The English alphabet settled into its current form a few hundred years after the printing press made the printed word commonplace. There were issues with the rendering of u and v, s and f, i and j, d and 'th', and a host of spelling issues, all stemming from the effort to realize in print what had existed in oral tradition alone.

Several changes were introduced into English culture in the era when the alphabet was resolving into its current form. The beginning of the year was moved from March to January. December previously the 10th month became the 12th month.

The Cartesian system of graphics merged with algebraic notation, and a real, rational set of numbers opened up a whole new world of mathematical description of form.

So, within the last five centuries a civilization had a cleaned up alphabet, an expanded numerical capability, and a new orientation to the reckoning of time.