* Printing like this actually could’ve been invented much earlier, around 500 BCE! Certain maps in Ancient Greece were carved into metal plates: this was for prestige or to make them sturdy enough to survive long journeys. But if more than one copy of a map was needed, then a duplicate was carved into a second metal plate. In other words, the Greeks had everything they needed to invent printing (including the presses, which they used to make olive oil) and could’ve easily done so, had but a single person thought to duplicate their metal maps by spreading ink on them before pressing them to papyrus. None did.