The concept of science and technology: a range of theoretical problems. Primitive technologies of the Stone Age
1) The concepts of science and technology. Circle theoretical problems.Together we open the abstract of the first lecture and study, study, study.
2) Technologies and technical devices of the Stone Age.
IN late XIX centuries, the Stone Age was subdivided into the Paleolithic and Neolithic. However, later in the Paleolithic it was possible to identify whole line periods. The basis for this was the observation of changes in the forms and processing techniques of stone tools. To be understood, I will have to say at least a few words about the cleavage technique.
Even in order to obtain the simplest flake - a thin chip with sharp edges - a number of preliminary expedient actions are required. On a piece of stone, you need to prepare a place for striking and hit it at a certain angle and with a certain force. It is even more difficult to make a tool with a strictly specified, sometimes enough complex shape. In ancient times, a system of upholstering with small chips, called retouching in archeology, was used for this.
These techniques have been developed and improved over a very long time - from one era to another. Today, scientists are studying the technique of chipping with special methods. The experiment is of great help in this, that is, the archaeologist himself begins to split stones and make stone tools, trying to better understand how this was done in antiquity.
Let me also remind you that the communities of mammoth hunters of interest to us lived in the era of the Upper (or Late) Paleolithic, which, according to modern data, lasted from about 45 to 10 thousand years ago. Not so long ago, it was believed that the beginning of this era approximately coincides with the emergence of modern humans - Homo sapiens sapiens. However, it has now been established that this is not the case. In fact, people of the same physical type as modern humanity appeared much earlier - perhaps about 200 thousand years ago. However, the development of technology was rather slow. For a long time Homo sapiens sapiens made tools as primitive as people of a more archaic type - archanthropes and paleoanthropes - later completely extinct.
A number of scientists believe that the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic era should be associated with the massive introduction of new material into human practice - bones, horns and tusks. This material turned out to be more ductile than stone and harder than most tree species. In that distant era, its development opened up completely new opportunities for man. Longer, lighter and sharper knives appeared. Spearheads and darts appeared, and with them simple but ingenious devices for throwing them at a target.
At the same time, people invented new tools for removing and dressing the skins of dead animals. Awls and needles made of bone appeared, the thinnest of which hardly differ in size from our modern ones. This was the most important achievement of mankind: after all, the presence of such needles meant the appearance of sewn clothes among our ancestors! In addition, tools specially designed for digging dugouts and storage pits began to be made from tusks and horns. There were probably many other specialized objects made of bone in that period. But the purpose of many of them found at Paleolithic sites is still a mystery to archaeologists... Finally, it is worth noting: the vast majority of various decorations and works of Paleolithic art were also made of bone, horn and tusk.
People processed these materials in different ways. Sometimes with a piece of tusk or thick bone they did the same as with flint: they chipped, removed flakes, from which they then made the necessary things. But much more often, special techniques were used: felling, planing, cutting. The surface of finished objects was usually polished to a shine. A very important technical achievement was the invention of the drilling technique. As a mass reception, it arose at the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. However, the very first drilling experiments, apparently, were already carried out in the previous Middle Paleolithic era, but extremely rarely.
The most important achievement of Upper Paleolithic technology was the first combination of two different materials in one tool: bone and stone, wood and stone, and other combinations. The simplest examples of this kind are flint scrapers, chisels or piercers fixed in a bone or wooden handle. More complex are compound or insert tools - knives and tips.
The earliest of them were found in the Sungir burial: the impact ends of the tusk spears were reinforced with two rows of small flint flakes glued with resin directly to the surface of the tusk. Somewhat later, such tools were improved: a longitudinal groove would be cut into the bone base, where inserts specially prepared from small flint plates should be inserted. Subsequently, these liners were fixed with resin. However, such spearheads are typical not for mammoth hunters, but for their southern neighbors, the inhabitants of the Black Sea steppes. There lived tribes of buffalo hunters.
Let us immediately note one point that is extremely important for archaeologists. In archaic societies, not only clothes, not only jewelry and works of art were able to "speak" about their belonging to one or another genus-tribe. Tools of labor - too. Although not all. Tools of the simplest forms - the same needles and awls - are, in fact, the same everywhere and, therefore, are "dumb" in this respect. But more complex tools in different cultures look different. So, for example, for mammoth hunters who came to the Russian Plain from the territory Central Europe, are characterized by tusk hoes with richly ornamented handles, used for digging the earth. When dressing skins, these people used elegant flat bone spatulas, the handles of which were ornamented along the edges and ended with a carefully carved “head”. These are the items that are really able to "report" their cultural identity! Later, when the newcomers from the banks of the Danube were replaced on the Russian Plain by the tribes of builders of land dwellings from mammoth bones, the forms of tools for the same purpose immediately changed. "Talking" things have disappeared - along with the human community that lived here before.
The processing of new material inevitably required new tools. IN Upper Paleolithic the main set of stone tools is changing, the technologies for their manufacture are being improved. One of the main achievements of this period is the development of the lamellar cleavage technique. For the removal of long and thin plates, the so-called prismatic cores were specially prepared; chipping from them was carried out with the help of a bone intermediary. Thus, the blow was applied not to the stone itself, but to the blunt end of a bone or horn rod, the sharp end of which was placed exactly in the place from which the master intended to chip off the plate. In the Upper Paleolithic, the squeezing technique first appeared: that is, the removal of the workpiece is carried out not by impact, but by pressure on the intermediary. However, everywhere this technique began to be used later, already in the Neolithic.
Previously, the masters were content, mainly, with the raw materials that were located in the vicinity of the parking lot. Since the Upper Paleolithic, people began to take special care of the extraction of raw materials. High Quality; for its search and extraction, special trips were made for tens and even hundreds of kilometers from the parking lot! Of course, not nodules were transferred to such a distance, but already prepared cores and chipped plates.
The prismatic cores of mammoth hunters have such a complex and perfect shape that their finds have long been identified as very large axes. In fact, this is an object specially prepared for the subsequent chipping of the plates.
Later it was found that such cores were indeed used as tools - however, not for cutting wood, but for loosening dense rock. Apparently, in long-distance campaigns for flint raw materials, noiryrao people used cores already at hand to extract new nodules from Cretaceous deposits. This chalk flint is especially good.
Improved at this stage and retouching technique. Squeeze retouching is used - especially in the manufacture of elegant double-sided tips. The craftsman sequentially presses the edge of the workpiece with the end of the bone rod, separating thin, small chips running in a strictly specified direction, giving the tool desired shape. For the decoration of stone tools, not only stones, bones or wood were sometimes used, but also ... their own teeth! This is how some Aborigines of Australia retouch the tips. Well, one can only envy the amazing health and strength of their teeth! Along with retouching, other processing techniques are being developed: the technique of incisal chipping is widely spread - a narrow long removal from a blow inflicted on the end face of a workpiece. In addition, the technique of grinding and drilling stone appears for the first time - however, it was used far from everywhere and only for the manufacture of jewelry and specific tools (“graters”) intended for grinding paint, grains or plant fibers.
Finally, the set of tools itself undergoes strong changes in the Upper Paleolithic. Former forms completely disappear, or their number is sharply reduced. They are replaced by such forms that were either absent in the monuments early eras, or met there as a few curiosities: end scrapers, cutters, chisels and chisels, narrow points and piercings. Gradually, there are more and more various miniature tools used either for very delicate work, or as components (inserts) of complex tools, fixed in a wooden or bone base. Archaeologists today count not dozens, but hundreds of varieties of these tools!
It is worth noting one circumstance, which is sometimes forgotten even by experts. The names of many stone tools seem to suggest that we know their purpose. "Knife", "cutter" - this is what they cut with; “scraper”, “scraper”, - what they scrape with; “piercing” - what they pierce with, etc. In the century before last, when the science of the Stone Age was just emerging, scientists really tried to “guess” the purpose of incomprehensible objects mined by excavations, according to their appearance. This is how these terms came about. Later, archaeologists realized that with this approach they were too often mistaken.
One of the features of the Upper Paleolithic is that a person not only actively masters new material, but for the first time starts artistic creativity. He began to decorate bone tools with rich and complex ornaments, carved figures of animals and people from bone, tusk or soft stone (marl), and was engaged in the manufacture of a wide variety of ornaments. All these delicate works, sometimes performed with amazing skill, required a special set of tools.
Stone processing technology became so advanced that in different groups, sometimes living side by side, people began to make tools for the same purpose in different ways. Processing the tip of a spear, scraper or chisel differently than the neighbors do, giving them a different shape, the ancient masters seemed to say: “It's us! This is ours!". Grouping monuments with the closest set of tools in archaeological cultures, scientists get the opportunity to some extent to present a picture of the existence of ancient collectives, their distribution, features of life and, finally, their relationship with each other.
The side-notch tip is a shape especially characteristic of one of the mammoth hunter cultures. However, from time to time (although not often) the shape of the same tip, characteristic of one culture, was “borrowed” by foreigners for one reason or another. However, in such cases, the tools, as a rule, acquired specific features that were clearly visible to the archaeologist.
Some cultures emphasized high skill in the manufacture of thin leaf-shaped tips, treated with flat chips on both sides. In the Upper Paleolithic, three cultures are known where the production of such tools reached exclusively high level. The most ancient of them - the Streltsy culture - existed on the Russian Plain between 40 and 25 thousand years ago. The people of this culture made triangular-shaped arrowheads with a concave base. In the solutre culture, common in the territory modern France and Spain about 22-17 thousand years ago, leaf-shaped arrowheads, no less perfect in processing, had other, elongated forms - the so-called laurel-leaved or willow-leaved. Finally, exclusively high development the production of reversible arrowheads of various types reached in Paleo-Indian cultures North America that existed about 12-7 thousand years ago. It should be noted that to date, no links between these three cultural variants have been established. Different groups of people invented similar techniques quite independently, independently of each other.
Eastern European mammoth hunters belonged to cultures of a different type, where the necessary shape of the tool was achieved by processing only the edge of the workpiece, and not its entire surface. Here, special attention was paid to obtaining good plates, with the necessary dimensions and proportions.
It should be noted once again: after the cultures of immigrants from Central Europe were replaced by the cultures of builders of houses from mammoth bones in most of the Russian Plain, there were noticeable changes in the processing of stone. The forms of stone tools are becoming simpler and smaller, and the technique of chipping blanks, leading to obtaining thin long plates and regular cut plates, is becoming more and more perfect. This should not be considered "degradation" in any way. Mammoth hunters, who lived on the banks of the Dnieper and Don 20-14 thousand years ago, reached real heights for their era in housebuilding, in bone and tusk processing, and in ornamentation (here it is worth recalling that the meander-type ornament was created for the first time not by the ancient Greeks at all, but by the inhabitants of the Mezinsky site!). So, apparently, their "simplified" stone inventory at that time simply corresponded to its purpose.
^ 3) Ceramics and its revolutionary significance.
CERAMICS(Greek keramike - pottery, from keramos - clay; English ceramics, French ceramique, German keramik), the name of any household or art products made from clay or mixtures containing clay, kilned or dried in the sun. Ceramics include pottery, terracotta, majolica, faience, stone mass, porcelain. Any object molded from natural clay and cured by sun-drying or firing is considered pottery. Porcelain is special kind pottery. Translucent, with a vitreous sintered body and a white base, real porcelain is made from special grades of clay, feldspars and quartz or quartz substitutes.
Pottery making is an ancient art, predating metallurgy or even weaving in most cultures. Porcelain, however, is a much later invention; it first appeared in China c. 600 AD, and in Europe - in the 18th century.
TECHNIQUES
Material.
The main material for the production of ceramics is clay. The quarried clay is usually mixed with sand, small stones, the remains of rotted plants and other foreign matter, which must be completely removed in order for the clay to become usable. Today, as in ancient times, this is done by mixing clay with water and settling the mixture in a large tub. Dirt sinks to the bottom upper layer clay and water is pumped out or scooped out into an adjoining reservoir. The process is then repeated, sometimes several times; the clay is refined with each subsequent precipitation until the material of the desired quality is obtained.
The cleaned clay is stored in a damp state in enclosed spaces until it is used. Exposure of clay for several months significantly improves its working qualities, allowing the clay to retain its shape in the process of creating a product, while remaining malleable and plastic. Fresh clay is often combined with old clay from a previous mixed batch; this enhances bacterial activity and appears to improve the quality of the material.
Any product molded in clay undergoes some degree of compression, both during drying and during the firing process. For uniform drying and minimal shrinkage, coarsely ground pieces of terracotta, usually pottery scrap, are added to the clay. It also increases the strength of the clay, reducing the chance of it shrinking violently during molding.
Molding.
Stucco ceramics.
The earliest pottery-making technique, invented c. 5000 BC, during the early era Neolithic, was the modeling of a vessel by hand from a lump of clay. Clay was crushed and squeezed out to obtain the desired shape. Samples of products made in this ancient technique, which is still used by some potters today, have been found in Jordan, Iran and Iraq.
^ Band ceramics.
A later invention was the technique of ring molding, in which the vessel was lined up from several clay strips. A flat, hand-sculpted clay base was surrounded by a thick strip, and then a strong connection between the base and the strip was achieved by pressure and smoothing. The remaining strips were added until the pot had the desired height and shape. To facilitate the process of lining up and smoothing the walls, a rounded stone was sometimes placed inside the pot, and the outside surface was processed with a spatula. This technique was used to make beautiful pottery with walls of the same thickness. The band pottery method resembles the technique of weaving baskets from long fibrous ropes (or bast), and it is possible that the band pottery technique originates from this method.
Improvements in the band technique led to the molding of the pot on a small piece of reed matting or a curved crock (fragment of a broken vessel). The mat or shard served as a base during the building of the pot and as a convenient axis of rotation, thanks to which the vessel turned easily in the hands of the potter. This manual rotation gave the potter the ability to continuously smooth the pot and symmetrically align the shape as it was built. Among some primitive peoples, such as, for example, American Indians, nothing more advanced than this technique has been created, and all their ceramics were made by this method. The tape method was used to make large jugs for food storage even after the invention of the potter's wheel.
^ Potter's wheel.
The invention of the potter's wheel dates back to about the end of the 4th millennium BC. Its use was not immediately widespread; some regions adopted new technology much earlier than others. One of the first was Sumer in southern Mesopotamia, where the potter's wheel was used around 3250 BC. In Egypt, it was already in use by the end of the 2nd dynasty, around 2800 BC, and in Troy, it was made on potter's wheel pottery was found in the Troy II layer, c. 2500 BC
The ancient potter's wheel was a heavy, durable disc of wood or terracotta. On the underside of the disk there was a recess with which it was mounted on a low fixed axle. The whole wheel was balanced so as to rotate without staggering and vibration. In Greece, it was customary for the potter's apprentice to turn the wheel, adjusting the speed at the master's command. Big size and the weight of the wheel provided a sufficiently long period of its rotation after launch. The presence of an assistant turning the wheel allowed the potter to use both hands in shaping the vase and give this process his full attention. The foot potter's wheel does not appear to have been used until Roman times. In the 17th century the wheel was set in motion by means of a rope thrown over a pulley, and in the 19th century. The steam powered potter's wheel was invented.
The process of making a pot on a potter's wheel begins with kneading the clay to remove air bubbles and turn it into a homogeneous, workable mass. Then the clay ball is placed in the center of the rotating circle and held with bent palms until the circle is evened out. By pressing the thumb into the middle of the clay ball, a ring with thick walls is formed, which gradually stretches between the thumb and the rest of the fingers, transforming into a cylinder. This cylinder can then, at the request of the potter, open in the shape of a bowl, stretch out like a long pipe, flatten into a plate or close, creating a spherical shape. At the end, the finished product is “cut off” and put to dry. The next day, when the clay has dried to a hard crust, the vessel is turned upside down into the center of the circle. On a rotating wheel, they hone, or clean, a shape by cutting off an unnecessary part of the clay, for which tools made of metal, bone or wood are usually used. This completes the molding of the product; the vessel is ready for decoration and firing. The leg and other parts of the vessel can be dressed and turned separately and then attached to the body of the vessel with clay coating - liquid clay used by the potter as a bonding material.
Casting.
The casting technique is used to create mass-produced ceramics. First, a plaster mold is made from the pattern to be reproduced. Then, a liquid clay mortar called casting mortar is poured into this template. It is left until the gypsum absorbs moisture from the solution and the layer of clay deposited on the walls of the matrix hardens. This takes about an hour, after which the form is turned over and the remaining solution is poured. The hollow clay casting is finished by hand and then fired.
In ancient times, soft, pliable clay was pressed into the mold by hand rather than poured in as in the casting technique. Manufacturing process began with the molding of the model itself. The clay sample (patrix) made by the master was created both for the final use of the vase and for the intermediate production stages. In most of these sculpted vases, the stucco part is attached to a piece, such as a mouth, molded on a potter's wheel. Therefore, the manufacture of the patrix was limited only to this stucco part.
Burning.
The technique of treating dried clay with heat to change it from a soft brittle substance into a hard vitreous material was discovered c. 5000 BC This discovery was undoubtedly accidental, possibly the result of a hearth built on a clay base. Probably, when the fire went out, people noticed that the clay base of the hearth became extremely hard. The first inventive potter could repeat this phenomenon by molding something out of soft clay and putting it into the fire, and then making sure that the fire did not damage his product, but, on the contrary, gave it a solid, stable shape. Thus, the technique of ceramic firing could have appeared.
Science is a sphere of human activity aimed at the development and theoretical systematization of objective knowledge about reality. The basis of this activity is the collection of facts, their constant updating and systematization, critical analysis, on this basis, the synthesis of new knowledge or generalizations that not only describe observed natural or social phenomena, but also allow you to build cause-and-effect relationships and, as a result, predict . Those theories and hypotheses that are confirmed by facts or experiments are formulated in the form of laws of nature or society.
Technology is older than science, it arises even in primitive society, since primitive man masters the technical world, he makes devices, equipment, aggregates (the bow appeared in the Mesolithic, automatic traps for animals appeared, snares for catching birds), technical devices older than homo sapiens - a stick -kapalka, spear, stone hammer were in the arsenal of the Neanderthal
primeval world
Paleolithic 2.5 mil years ago - 10,000 years ago
Mesolithic 10,000 years ago - 7,000 years ago
Neolithic 7000 years ago - 2500 years ago
Ancient world boundary 4-3 thousand BC - 476 AD
Technique - a way of owning (processing) something (from other Greek - skill, craft)
Technique - a set of material means that allow you to master any reality: physical, social, military ..
Technique appeared in primitive society 50-40 thousand years ago (the first truly scientific operations and discoveries of the 16-17th century (the great revolutionary upheaval that gave birth to science, scientists Leonardo da Vinci, Francis Beccan, Kepler, Copernicus, De Cartes, Newton), 600-500 sheets. back). The ancient world and the Middle Ages is the era of pre-scientific knowledge
Technologies and technical devices of the Stone Age
The main type of tools in this period are stone hand axes, or strikers, and smaller tools made from stone fragments. Chunks and points had a universal purpose, being both tools and weapons. For their manufacture, the Paleolithic man used flint, and where it was not available, quartzite, petrified wood, siliceous tuff, porphyry, basalt, obsidian and other rocks. Shell tools were made by upholstering technique. A natural piece of stone was given the desired shape by applying successive blows with another stone (a chipper). Axes were large massive (10-20 cm long) almond-shaped, oval or spear-shaped tools with a sharp working end and a heel at the upper, wide end, which served to rest the palm during work. Along with axes, flakes were used - shapeless fragments of stone, the edges of which were turned into cutting tools by upholstery. Primitive tools made of wood (clubs, stakes), bones and shells were also used. The weapons became more and more differentiated. The scraper, processed only along one edge, was intended for cutting the carcass of an animal and scraping skins. The points, which were used as tips for spears and darts, were processed on both sides. Archaeologists suggest that it was during this period that composite tools began to appear. Some tools were specially used for making other tools - stone, wood, bone, horn. It was bone and horn that primitive man used for production purposes (retouchers, points, anvils), for the manufacture of small "pointed tools.
For crossing water streams and swimming along rivers and lakes for short distances, trunks of fallen trees, logs, bundles of brushwood or reeds could serve.
In the early Paleolithic they supported "natural" fire, later they learned how to get it themselves
Mesolithic technology is characterized by further development, rapid and widespread use of composite stone tools. The cutting part of these tools are knife-like plates, which almost completely replace the rest of the stone products. These plates were correct form width from 2-3 mm to 1.5 cm, with very even and sharp edges. Such faces were obtained as a result of chipping plates from pencil-shaped cores. The knife-like plates obtained in this way were then inserted into a bone or wooden frame, glued with asphalt from natural deposits and used as knives and cutters.
At this time, boomerangs appeared. They were sickle-shaped wooden sticks up to 75 cm long, and sometimes up to 2 m long. The material used to make boomerangs belonged to heavy types of wood (acacia, etc.). Working on the boomerang was a responsible matter. It was necessary to determine by eye all the proportions of this projectile, give the desired curvature, section, sharpen the ends, calculate the weight and dimensions. Moreover, all these conditions had to be fulfilled with the help of stone tools. The necessary bending of the boomerang was achieved by soaking it in water and drying it in a certain position in hot sand or ash. The boomerang was used as a throwing tool, the flight range of which reached 100 m. Hunting with the help of a boomerang was carried out by the peoples of the Arctic, America, Australia, they were discovered during excavations of Stone Age sites and in our Urals. However, the most important technical achievement of the Mesolithic era was the bow and arrow. As already noted, the bow and arrow were invented in the Madeleine era.
Along with hunting, fishing is intensively developed. Fishing gear is being improved. This is evidenced by the widespread use of harpoons, hooks, and large weights. However, the most effective way was to catch fish with the help of a net that appeared during this period. Nets were woven from threads made from the bark of fibrous plants.
For the cultivation of crops, microlithic tools were used: bone reaping sickles with stone inserts. Bone hoes were used. For crushing grain, stone basalt mortars, pestles and grain grinders were made.
Tribes of primitive people usually settled near large rivers, lakes, along water channels and along the shores of the seas, without penetrating into the mainland. People continued to use caves and rock sheds as dwellings. However, the caves already bear traces of the improvement of this natural habitat. Mesolithic man began to change the shape of the cave, create walls and partitions inside them, build additional stone outbuildings (Palestine, North Africa). Almost no long-term artificial dwellings were built. Huts, huts, bivouac tents were built mainly from stakes and branches. These light frame dwellings were often oval in shape, 3.5 m long, 2 m wide, with a slightly recessed floor. The erection of light temporary buildings is explained, firstly, by the general warming in the postglacial period and, therefore, by the lack of need for well-insulated dwellings, and, secondly, by the great mobility of hunters and gatherers of this period. At the end of the Mesolithic, along with various wooden, bone and leather utensils, ceramic products appeared - rough pots, bowls, lamps, etc. e. People began to use sleighs, sledges, skis as vehicles, and boats were widely used. All of them were made of wood.
Before watching videos about the production and use of stone axes, a brief educational program on the topic of what a stone ax is and what reconstructions are. Let's start with reconstructions. As noted earlier, these are not scientific reconstructions, but only a visualization of primitive technologies. As their author himself writes, he relies on the SAS survival book:
- "SAS survival book - this teaches you how to survive in all climates"
Even in an ordinary textbook on the history of technology, for example, much more practical information is given. useful information on this score:
Reconstruction from
And secondly, the type of ax offered as an example is one of the common misconceptions on this topic. This is not an axe, but rather the shape of a club or club. It is convenient to break through her head, but it is hardly possible to work as a tool:
From John Wiseman. "The Complete Survival Guide - 2011"
- Axe- one of the oldest composite tools, but its pedigree began with a simple stone, which was pointed on one side and rounded on the other. It was with such a tool that the reenactor in past videos began construction. It's called primitive hand ax - hand ax.
Reconstruction from
The first axes with a handle appeared in the Late (Upper) Paleolithic (35-12 thousand years ago). Axes, initially, and for a long time, were used primarily as a tool, war came to the world of people later. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find a good work on the history of the ax; as a standard, the evolution of the ax is presented something like this:
Reconstruction of the evolution of axes from
Although such a scheme causes me big doubts. Well, firstly, they began to grind the stone from the Neolithic era, and before that, the axes looked something like on. In addition, I repeat, there are doubts that the second ax in the row was used as an ax at all. It is difficult to imagine working with it in practice. It's more of a variant of the club. In any case, so far I have not come across reconstructions of work with a similar type of ax. Thirdly, the proposed sequence shows different types of axes that developed not sequentially, but in parallel, as they were the specialization of the original ax for different tasks.
One of the main technological difficulties was to securely attach the handle to the ax. And then they went to different tricks. Later, when the stone was learned to drill, according to one of the technologies, the ax handle was rotated into an axe. It looked something like this:
Of the variety of types of axes and techniques for their manufacture, we will consider two in the videos: celt (selt) and adze:
Celt and adze
Both will be made already using grinding technology, but still without drilling.
We make a stone celt (selt):
What to pay attention to? In addition to the ax, the reenactor also has to make a stone chisel, and instead of a drill, use fire, or rather burning coals. And somewhere in the comments, he wrote a very interesting remark about the psychology of the prehistoric "artisan". He said that the work on the production of the ax went very well in the evening around the fire, although there were very few interlocutors to work and communicate, exchanging news during the day. That is, labor then was a part of social life, and most likely a sacred one, and not at all a duty that had to be served for a reward, as is often the case now.
Making an adze:
And what I want to say in the end. The opinion about the primitiveness of the technical capabilities of prehistoric peoples is greatly exaggerated, and, as a rule, is a consequence of the modernization of history. Yes, it is almost impossible for a modern person, without special knowledge, to create jade axes from Troy.
These four stone hammer-axes come from hoard L, discovered by Schliemann in 1890, who completed its excavations at the same time,
and his life path. Schliemann considered hammer axes as his most valuable discovery made during the entire period of the Trojan excavations.
But even an ordinary person, armed with knowledge from the videos, after some time is able to make quite technological axes. Our ancestors from ancient world possessed not only extensive experience in stone processing, but also used quite impressive mechanization devices for their activities:
Drilling machine :
Reconstruction of the evolution of axes from
Sanding machine :
Reconstruction of the evolution of axes from
Sources
1. S. A. Semenov. The development of technology in the Stone Age. Leningrad: Nauka, 1968. 376 p.
2. N.B. Moiseev, M.I. Semenov. Reconstruction of the attachment of stone tools. Humanitarian sciences. History and political science. ISSN 1810-0201. Bulletin of TSU, issue 1 (69), 2009
3. B. Bogaevsky, I. Lurie, P. Schultz and others. Essays on the history of technology of pre-capitalist formations. 1936. Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. 462 p.
4. Zworykin A. A. et al. History of technology. M., Sotsekgiz, 1962. 772 p. [Acad. sciences of the USSR. Institute of History of Natural Science and Technology]
Modern schoolchildren, having got into the walls of the historical museum, usually go through the exposition with laughter, where the tools of labor of the Stone Age are exhibited. They seem so primitive and simple that they do not even deserve special attention from the visitors of the exhibition. However, in fact, these Stone Age humans are clear evidence of how he evolved from a humanoid to Homo sapiens. It is extremely interesting to trace this process, but historians and archaeologists can only direct the mind of the inquisitive in the right direction. Indeed, at the moment, almost everything that they know about the Stone Age is based on the study of these very simple tools. But the development of primitive people was actively influenced by society, religious beliefs and climate. Unfortunately, archaeologists of past centuries did not take into account these factors at all, giving a description of one or another period of the Stone Age. Labor tools of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic, scientists began to carefully study much later. And they were literally delighted with how skillfully primitive people managed with stone, sticks and bone - the most accessible and common materials at that time. Today we will tell you about the main tools of the Stone Age and their purpose. We will also try to recreate the production technology of some items. And be sure to give a photo with the names of the tools of the Stone Age, which are most often found in the historical museums of our country.
Brief description of the Stone Age
At the moment, scientists believe that the Stone Age can be safely attributed to the most important cultural and historical layer, which is still rather poorly understood. Some experts argue that this period has no clear time limits, because official science has established them based on the study of finds made in Europe. But she did not take into account that many peoples of Africa were in the Stone Age until they became acquainted with more developed cultures. It is known that some tribes still process the skins and carcasses of animals with objects made of stone. Therefore, talk about the fact that the tools of labor of people of the Stone Age are the distant past of mankind is premature.
Based on official data, we can say that the Stone Age began about three million years ago from the moment when the first hominid living in Africa thought of using stone for its own purposes.
Studying the tools of the Stone Age, archaeologists often cannot determine their purpose. This can be done by observing tribes that have a similar level of development with primitive people. Thanks to this, many objects become more understandable, as well as the technology of their manufacture.
Stone Age historians have divided into several fairly large time periods: the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. In each, the tools of labor were gradually improved and became more and more skillful. At the same time, their purpose also changed over time. It is noteworthy that archaeologists distinguish between Stone Age tools and the place where they were found. In the northern regions, people needed some items, and in southern latitudes- completely different. Therefore, to create complete picture scientists need both those and other findings. Only by the totality of all the found tools of labor can one get the most accurate idea of the life of primitive people in ancient times.
Materials for the manufacture of tools
Naturally, in the Stone Age, the main material for the manufacture of certain items was stone. Of its varieties, primitive people chose mainly flint and limestone slate. They made excellent cutting tools and weapons for hunting.
In more late period people began to actively use basalt. He went to work tools intended for domestic needs. However, this happened already when people became interested in agriculture and cattle breeding.
At the same time, primitive man mastered the manufacture of tools from bone, the horns of animals killed by him and wood. In various life situations, they turned out to be very useful and successfully replaced the stone.
If we focus on the sequence of the emergence of tools of the Stone Age, we can conclude that, nevertheless, the first and main material of ancient people was stone. It was he who turned out to be the most durable and was of great value in the eyes of primitive man.
The appearance of the first tools
The first tools of the Stone Age, the sequence of which is so important for the world scientific community, were the result of accumulated knowledge and experience. This process lasted for more than one century, because it was quite difficult for a primitive man of the early Paleolithic era to understand that randomly collected objects could be useful to him.
Historians believe that hominids in the process of evolution were able to understand the wide possibilities of stones and sticks, found by chance, to protect themselves and their communities. So it was easier to drive away wild animals and get roots. Therefore, primitive people began to pick up stones and throw them away after use.
However, after some time, they realized that it was not so easy to find the right object in nature. Sometimes it was necessary to bypass quite extensive territories so that a stone convenient and suitable for gathering was in the hands. Such items began to be stored, and gradually the collection was replenished with convenient bones and branched sticks of the required length. All of them became a kind of prerequisite for the first tools of the ancient Stone Age.
Tools of the Stone Age: the sequence of their occurrence
Among some groups of scientists, the division of tools into historical eras to which they belong. However, it is possible to imagine the sequence of the emergence of tools in another way. Stone Age people gradually developed, so historians have given them different names. Over the long millennia, they have gone from Australopithecus to Cro-Magnon. Naturally, during these periods, the tools of labor also changed. If we carefully trace the development of the human individual, then in parallel we can understand how much the tools of labor were improved. Therefore, further we will talk about objects made during the Paleolithic period by hands:
- australopithecines;
- Pithecanthropus;
- Neanderthals;
- Cro-Magnons.
If you still want to know what tools were in the Stone Age, then the following sections of the article will reveal this secret for you.
The invention of tools
The appearance of the first objects designed to make life easier for primitive people dates back to the time of Australopithecus. These are considered the most ancient ancestors modern man. It was they who learned to collect the right stones and sticks, and then decided to try with their own hands to give the desired shape to the found object.
Australopithecus was mainly engaged in gathering. They constantly looked for edible roots in the forests and picked berries, and therefore were often attacked by wild animals. Randomly found stones, as it turned out, helped to do the usual thing more productively and even allowed them to defend themselves from animals. Therefore, ancient man made attempts to turn an unsuitable stone into something useful with a few blows. After a series of titanic efforts, the first tool of labor appeared - a hand axe.
This item was an oblong stone. On the one hand, it was thickened to fit more comfortably in the hand, and the other was sharpened by the ancient man with the help of blows with another stone. It is worth noting that the creation of an ax was a very laborious process. The stones were rather difficult to process, and the movements of Australopithecus were not very accurate. Scientists believe that it took at least a hundred blows to create one handaxe, and the weight of the tool often reached fifty kilograms.
With the help of an ax it was much more convenient to dig up roots from under the ground and even kill wild animals with it. We can say that it was with the invention of the first tool of labor that a new milestone in the development of mankind as a species began.
Despite the fact that the ax was the most popular tool of labor, Australopithecus learned how to create scrapers and points. However, the scope of their applications was the same - gathering.
Pithecanthropus tools
This species is already bipedal and can claim to be called a man. Unfortunately, the tools of labor of the Stone Age people of this period are not numerous. Finds dating back to the era of Pithecanthropes are very valuable for science, because each item found carries extensive information about a little-studied historical time interval.
Scientists believe that Pithecanthropus used basically the same tools as Australopithecus, but learned to work them more skillfully. Stone axes were still very common. Also in the course went and flakes. They were made from bone by splitting into several parts, as a result, a primitive man received a product with sharp and cutting edges. Some finds allow us to get an idea that the Pithecanthropes tried to make tools from wood as well. Actively used by people and eoliths. This term was used for stones found near water bodies, which naturally have sharp edges.
Neanderthals: new inventions
The tools of labor of the Stone Age (we have given a photo with a caption in this section), made by Neanderthals, are distinguished by their lightness and new forms. Gradually, people began to approach the choice of the most convenient shapes and sizes, which greatly facilitated the hard daily work.
Most of the finds of that period were found in one of the caves in France, so scientists call all Neanderthal tools Mousterian. This name was given in honor of the cave, where large-scale excavations were carried out.
A distinctive feature of these items is their focus on the manufacture of clothing. The Ice Age, in which the Neanderthals lived, dictated their conditions to them. To survive, they had to learn how to process animal skins and sew various clothes from them. Prickers, needles and awls appeared among the tools of labor. With their help, the skins could be connected to each other with animal tendons. Such instruments were made of bone and most often by splitting the source material into several plates.
In general, scientists divide the finds of that period into three large groups:
- scar;
- scrapers;
- points.
Rubiltsy resembled the first tools of labor ancient man, but were much smaller. They were quite common and were used in different situations, for example, for striking.
Scrapers were excellent for butchering the carcasses of dead animals. Neanderthals skillfully separated the skin from the meat, which was then divided into small pieces. With the help of the same scraper, the skins were further processed; this tool was also suitable for creating various wood products.
Pointers were often used as weapons. Neanderthals had sharp darts, spears and knives for various purposes. For all this, spikes were needed.
The Cro-Magnon era
This type of person is characterized by high stature, a strong figure and a wide range of skills. The Cro-Magnons successfully put into practice all the inventions of their ancestors and invented completely new tools.
During this period, stone tools were still extremely common, but gradually people began to appreciate other materials. They learned how to make various devices from animal tusks and their horns. The main activities were gathering and hunting. Therefore, all the tools of labor contributed to the facilitation of these types of labor. It is noteworthy that the Cro-Magnons learned to fish, so archaeologists were able to find, in addition to the already known knives, blades, arrowheads and spears, harpoons and fish hooks made from animal tusks and bones.
Interestingly, the Cro-Magnon people came up with the idea of making dishes from clay and burning it in a fire. It is believed that the end ice age and the Paleolithic era, which was the heyday of the Cro-Magnon culture, was marked by significant changes in the life of primitive people.
Mesolithic
Scientists date this period from the tenth to the sixth millennium BC. In the Mesolithic, the world's oceans gradually rose, so people had to constantly adapt to unfamiliar conditions. They explored new territories and sources of food. Naturally, all this affected the tools of labor, which became more perfect and convenient.
During the Mesolithic era, archaeologists found microliths everywhere. By this term it is necessary to understand tools made of small stone. They greatly facilitated the work of ancient people and allowed them to create skillful products.
It is believed that it was during this period that people first began to tame wild animals. For example, dogs have become faithful companions of hunters and guards in large settlements.
Neolithic
This is the final stage of the Stone Age, in which people mastered Agriculture, cattle breeding and continued to develop pottery. Such a sharp leap in human development significantly modified stone tools. They acquired a clear focus and began to be produced only for a particular industry. For example, stone plows were used to till the land before planting, and harvesting was done with special reaping tools with cutting edges. Other tools made it possible to finely grind plants and cook food from them.
It is noteworthy that in the Neolithic era, entire settlements were built of stone. Sometimes houses and all the objects inside them were completely and completely carved from stone. Such settlements were very common in what is now Scotland.
In general, by the end of the Paleolithic era, man had successfully mastered the technique of making tools from stone and other materials. This period became a solid foundation for further development human civilization. However, until now, ancient stones keep many secrets that attract modern adventurers from all over the world.
At one time, I wrote an article about the manufacturing option for the King of the bath. How, with the help of one, the simplest reference surface, to make a number of others and, as a result, to make a product (king bath) from a block of granite. Any slightly educated mechanical engineer will tell you that there is nothing new or revolutionary in my proposal. The same principle of manufacturing products is incorporated in many modern machines. According to the reference surface of the longitudinally transverse guides, products are manufactured on turning, milling, planing, grinding and other machines. It's just that I proposed to use as a reference surface the surfaces of the king bath itself made in stages. But how many angry reviews I received, where the main thought was: “How did this Shishkin dare to make the Tsar-bath, a possible product of aliens from Another Galaxy, down to the level of an earthly lathe, and even without a lathe?” Personally, I thought that for smart people and pictures, you don’t need extra ones. It is possible to create something extra wonderful at the state level, but the technologies will still remain common and well known.
For the second month now I have been trying to write an article about the production of "Crimean Pithosophists". It is not clear how the cocoon-shaped pits carved in the thickness of the limestone. If with the manufacture of the “King of the Bath” it was possible to spend money on cost and time, then the Crimean pithoi, in my opinion, are just consumer goods of ancient times. The tsar took a bath for several years, and the Crimean pithoi did not last more than a week. And this is taking into account that pithoi could have been made back in the Stone Age, since the time of their manufacture has not yet been established.
With pithos, everything is both simpler and more complicated. The king made the bath one way or another, but how the pithoi were made must be indicated and told relatively accurately. I myself have been to the Crimea. I saw a lot of things there, but I didn’t see pithoi “live”. However, I believe that the descriptions and photographs of these pithoi, as well as knowledge of the Crimean features, are quite enough to tell about the technology of those times and the tools used with the help of logical reasoning and assumptions quite accurately. An article about the technology of making Crimean pithoi will be mainly of interest only to narrow specialists. But for a wider readership, the very technology of the Stone Age will be of interest. After all, most believe that the "Stone Age" is primitive people in skins, with stone axes chasing mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. Not certainly in that way. These are also the first cities and states, the first officials, politicians and merchants, centralized power and castes of the chosen (priests). Developed agriculture and animal husbandry. Ceramics and woven materials. The first division of labor and the emergence of estates in society ...
Instead of numerous explanations to the stories about the Crimean pithoi, I decided to write an additional series of articles about the technologies of the "Stone Age" and the possible application of these technologies in our time. Start in "Charging wood without an ax" and "Hut and tent."
In the photo, the Crimean pithoi after the collapse of the rock turned out to be a sectional view of the pithoi.
To be continued…
