Story of Emoji

“According to linguists, emoji may be the fastest-growing form of language in history–but their roots date back 40,000 years. This deep dive explores everything from 1963’s ‘original smiley, ’ by American commercial illustrator Harvey Ball, to emoji’s role in literature (an emoji translation of Moby-Dick) and tech (emoji- rather than digit-based banking passwords).” –The Wall Street Journal -According to linguists, emoji may be the fastest-growing form of language in history–but their roots date back 40,000 years. This deep dive explores everything from 1963’s ‘original smiley, ’ by American commercial illustrator Harvey Ball, to emoji’s role in literature (an emoji translation of Moby-Dick) and tech (emoji- rather than digit-based banking passwords).- –The Wall Street Journal

Gavin Lucas is Associate Professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Iceland. He is the author of three books, Critical Approaches to Fieldwork, An Archaeology of Colonial Identity and The Archaeology of Time. He is also the editor of several volumes, including Hofsta ir: Excavations of a Viking Age Feasting Hall, Archaeologies of the Contemporary Past (with V. Buchli) and Interpreting Archeology (with Alexandra Alexandri et al.).