Mediation Histories

In Media Anthropology class, most of our readings and discussions have focused on how relatively "new" media function in different societies (including TV, radio, video etc). I was wondering how older media function in relation this new media. For example, how do traditional forms of painting and sculpture relate to the video produced in a specific culture? Are they similar or different? Intertextual? Are there some essential aspects of culture embedded in all media? If so what are those aspects? Has any historical work been done on tracing the transition from one medium to another and the resulting transformation that occurs? Are specific types of media rooted in certain times and places or are they transtemporal and transpacial in a sense, creating new meaning through time and space regardless of thier original historical context? It seems to me that if we are going to use the term media, as an encompassing category which includes so many forms of expression, we should have some way of explaining how each medium relates to the other (whether it be in transculturally or interculturally).