PREHISTORIC tools and their names

The Prehistory It is one of the most important stages in the history of humanity, being when the beings Humans managed to create numerous elements that allowed them to prosper and survive in a world complicated. We can highlight the emergence of tools as the moment of greatest growth, since it was the emergence of these that managed to evolve the human being to levels never seen before. For all these reasons, in this lesson of a Teacher we must talk about the main prehistoric tools and their names.

Before getting fully into prehistoric tools, it is important that we contextualize this lesson. The Prehistory is the period of time between the appearance of the first human groups and the appearance of writing, this being the moment in which we passed from Prehistory to the Ancient Age.

Therefore, we can say that Prehistory is the longest historical period in the entire history of humanity, since it covers a huge number of years in which the human being had an enormous evolution and many of the key elements appear.

When talking about Prehistory we must take into account a very important factor: It was not an equal period for all areas of the world. Originating in the Middle East, and gradually expanding throughout the world, it was a very different period in the different areas of the world, with some places having a slower evolution, in others earlier and in others with more differentiated. P

We can say that since it is such a long period and with so much variety, it is difficult to locate common characteristics, but even so the main prehistoric tools appear everywhere. These areas where large prehistoric groups appeared would be the ones that centuries later would give rise to the great civilizations.

An important factor of Prehistory is that fonts are complicated Since there is no writing, we only have archaeological elements that are usually more complicated to analyze. Even so, these elements do allow us to know the tools, since many of them have survived over time.

Prehistory is divided into two great periods., the first of them being known as Stone age. It was known for the time period in which human beings created tools using stone.

The importance of prehistoric stone tools It was vital, since thanks to them, human beings were able to prosper in many fields. This was possible thanks to flint discovery, a type of stone that was very easy to polish and find and that allowed greater ease when making tools.

The enormous breadth of the Stone Age period makes it necessary to enumerate all tools made with this stuff. Next, we are going to talk about several of these stone fabrications, to understand how important they were.

the bifaces

Possibly the most famous item of all Stone Age tools, as it is the most widely used object. usually found in the deposits and, therefore, the one that helps us the most to see the place where to find the people. It is believed that the bifaces are from the Lower Palaeolithic, so they would be the first tools in the history of mankind. Created using flint, they were triangular-shaped objects that were used to scrape and cut different objects.

burins

Burins are another of the prehistoric tools. They had a sharp part and the other rounded to be able to grab it. The chisels were made by hammering, since by means of blows they were removing flakes from the stone and thereby leaving that shape. Gravers were typical of the Upper Paleolithic, and it is thought that their use was to create tools and decorations of wood and bone.

hand axes

During the Middle and Lower Paleolithic, the so-called hand axes appear, which were created by means of a stick and a stone tied to it, which was beaten so that it took shape sharp. Although we currently associate axes with weapons, we must bear in mind that at that time they were used for other tasks, such as chopping meat and firewood, digging holes, or defending against animals wild.

Clovis

The Clovis are a very interesting and well-known element of Prehistory, although they only appear in the Clovis culture, being the ancestors of the Native Americans, which remained for centuries in this area, and after the arrival of the Europeans there were still some peoples who they used. These strange spearheads had a very particular shape that made them very useful for attacking, especially for long-range hunting because of how aerodynamic they were.

Spear tips

Created by percussion of the stones, the spearheads were used for tasks related to weapons, being tied to wooden sticks to be able to carry out tasks such as hunting or harvest. It is thought that thanks to the spears the prehistoric population was able to have larger human groups, since they allowed a greater number of prey to feed on.

Knives

Like spearheads, knives were created by striking stone to form sharp weapons. Its use intensified in the Middle Paleolithic, since before them only bone knives and similar materials were made. Its main uses were for hunting, gathering, cutting things or carving different decorative elements.

scrapers

Created by scraping stone, they were one of the most important elements of the Stone Age. They appeared in the Middle Palaeolithic, although their use greatly intensified during the Upper Palaeolithic era. With numerous attributions, some of its main uses were to remove fat from dead animals, polish wood and bone, and tan skins to create clothing.

perforators

They were stone tools in which one of its parts was finished in a point, thus serving as a kind of awl. The idea was to take a large stone and, through precise blows, leave it with only a fine and pointed shape as if it were a toothpick. Its main attribution was to make holes in certain materials, although they were also used as a chisel.

firing pins

The hammers were large stones used to chip stones and with them take out tools of different shapes. To understand what they were used for, we must say that it was very similar to current helmets, so they served as the basis for many of the great creations in the Stone Age, and for this reason they maintained their importance until the Age of Metals and the appearance of anvils of metal.

Tools to work the field

Human beings created with the stone elements such as shovels or plows to be able to better work the field, achieving this that human beings could start working in agriculture and with it have a better life and more sedentary.

To continue with this lesson on prehistoric tools and their names, we must talk about the main tools that appeared in the Age of metals, thus understanding the main existing objects before the appearance of writing.

We must bear in mind that numerous new tools appeared in the Metal Age, since the treatment of bronze, copper and iron it served to improve the tools and for the appearance of new very useful creations for the inhabitants of Prehistory.

The main prehistoric tools in the Metal Age are the following:

• Weapons: Metals are much harder and more resistant materials, so the creation of weapons with these materials was a key step in the evolution of warfare. The creation of swords and daggers from materials such as iron served for the most advanced peoples to surpass themselves against the rest, due to the enormous difference in power.
• agricultural tools: Pickaxes, shovels, plows were some of the elements that, made of metal, served to have greater resistance and serve for years without being destroyed. The enormous advances in the field that these new tools brought allowed an evolution in agriculture that allowed the population to increase.
• vessels: Metal vessels appeared, which were seen as a very particular and interesting element, causing were an important piece of commerce, and causing the purchase and sale of vessels to open new routes and markets between towns.
• Transportation: Transport and wheels underwent great advances with the arrival of metals, being above all important the metal reinforcements of the cars that allowed much greater resistance and, therefore, greater ease of transport.
• copper axes: Axes remained very important in the Metal Age, but the change in material made them work better against certain elements and increase their durability.
• Ornaments: Rings, bracelets and other elements created using metals served to increase the adornments in the world, being great commercial products whose buying and selling improved trade.
• Ladders: With the arrival of copper, the prehistoric people created stairs, which were very useful to facilitate access to certain places.
• chisels: Metal chisels were very useful for working new materials, being one of the key elements for the appearance of writing.
• hammers: Metal hammers turned out to be much more useful than stone hammers, serving to work the metals themselves and other elements and tools of the time.