I was getting equipment for a fantasy RPG and wanted something I could use to leave marks through dungeons but would be pretty cheap and easy to replace for my rather broke character. This got me wondering about chalk. I tried to research the subject and found lots of sources saying that it has existed and been used for writing/drawing for a long time, but nothing said if it was an expensive luxury item or a basic tool that anyone from farmers to seamstresses might use. Thanks!
Chalk is a rock. It composes the bedrock of significant parts of England, France and probably some other places. For people who live in those places, it has always been been cheap and common, because it was the only rock that they had locally. So the answer is: as long has Homo sapiens have lived in England and France. Unless you include other members of the genus Homo, in which case the answer is a few hundred thousand years.