History of primitive times. Primitive primitive tools of labor of ancient people: the history of discoveries and inventions of primitive people with pictures, photos and videos What is the most ancient tool of labor

The most ancient tool very easy to meet. Go out into the yard, find any large stone that is comfortable to hold with one hand - and here it is, the very first ancient tool. Initially, when an ancient man needed something heavy and hard, he simply took any stone. It is impossible to reliably determine the period of use of such tools, since they are practically no different from natural ones. A breakthrough in processing came when people realized that by beating the edges of one stone with another, they could get a sharp edge, convenient for chopping.

This is how the first axes and pebble processing appeared. Several signs of this can be identified tools:

• comfortable rounded butt without protrusions for one-handed grip;
• the number of intentional chips on the side opposite the butt is small or insignificant. The chips themselves are large and uneven;
• the tools of this time are usually quite large, about the size of an axe.

Methods for processing ancient tools improved over time. Plates or scales, so-called flakes, removed from the processed piece of flint, became small and of the same type. This method of processing ancient tools is called by archaeologists retouching.

Retouching has undergone several changes during its development. The easiest way to remove a flint flake is to hit it with another flint or an equally hard stone. The disadvantages of this method are obvious - it is difficult to accurately calculate the force and direction of the impact, which can lead to complete breakdown of the entire workpiece, and as a result, a waste of many hours of work. However, even in this way, ancient people managed to create a new type of tools - pointed points. This type includes tools with two cutting edges - for example, spear tips or knives.

Rice. 1 - Ancient tools

It should be clarified that the names of the tools are arbitrary, since they did not come down to us from antiquity, but were given by archaeologists who discovered them during excavations and proposed options for their use. Later it turned out that not all names were given correctly. For example, the scraper was used not only for dressing animal skins, but also as a knife for cutting carcasses and as a woodworking tool. This versatility of use was largely due to two factors - on the one hand, the nomadic lifestyle required carrying all the tools with you, since it was quite difficult to find high-quality material for making tools, and on the other hand, a large number of stone tools in the absence of convenient methods of transportation had to cause great inconvenience.

The emergence of such methods of tool processing as push-pull and counter-punch retouching made it possible to achieve a finer finish. With this method, flakes were removed by point pressure with a stick or bone on the edge of the processed blade. The tools after this treatment look rough, with numerous notches. This method is more precise and allowed the production of thin, miniature tools - such as arrowheads.

Some tribes found themselves in more favorable territorial conditions, for example, people who lived near volcanoes gained access to obsidian or volcanic glass. The processing of this material was much more convenient due to its natural properties. Those tribes that lived far from the source of high-quality material had to travel long distances to them and prepare prismatic materials on the spot. cores(Fig. 2) - special blanks from which flakes were subsequently made.

Rice. 2 - Nuclei and obtaining flakes

Along with the improvement in stone processing, the processing of other materials also improved - wood, horn and bone or tusk. Methods for drilling stone and bone appeared. Bone and horn were processed by scraping, cutting and sawing. Often the handle of the instrument was made from these materials, a longitudinal groove was carved into it, sharp flint plates were inserted into it and filled with resin.

Ancient tools were made from bone - awls and needles, which were practically no different from modern ones, except for the absence of an eye in them. Subsequent improvements in the processing of tools made it possible to apply various ornaments and designs to the surface of the tools. Such decoration of tools spoke of their importance: a well-made knife in ancient times could be passed down from generation to generation.

Objects of labor are objects of the material world. These things, in the course of consumption, transfer their own material substance to another thing or are exchanged for the material substance of another thing. In connection with these circumstances, the subject of labor is completely consumed in the process of economic use.

Tools, on the contrary, do not exchange or transfer their material substance to another thing. This is their main difference from objects of labor.

For example, the machine on which production is carried out does not transfer its material substance to the part. Thus, the machine is a tool. In this case, the material substance of the material used for manufacturing passes into the product during consumption (use). Thus, the material is the subject of labor. As a result, the machine is disposed of after complete wear and tear. And the material, transferring its material substance to the product, transfers value to the product.

Experts, meanwhile, point out that the division of things into tools or objects of labor depends on the nature of their use. Thus, the same part (thing) can be used in different ways. Thus, the same material object can be classified as an object of labor or as its instrument.

The same machine is considered a typical tool. However, under certain circumstances (for example, when sold to a third party), it will become an item.

It should be noted that the distribution of objects may not always be straightforward. An example would be a ballpoint pen. When figuring out what this thing is, there are some facts to consider. Thus, the body of the pen undoubtedly acts as a weapon. Ink is consumed during the writing process, transferring its material substance to the sheet of paper. Thus, ink is an object of labor. As a result, an object used uniformly in a property complex may refer to a tool. However, at the same time, the object in question also has a consumable part, which belongs to the category of objects of labor.

Objects in storage are not subject to classification. Although during this period one can make certain assumptions. Conclusions about the features of the upcoming use of the item can be made taking into account the intentions of the owners or based on established practice. However, existing knowledge may be refuted, and intentions may undergo changes.

The nature of the future use of an object can be determined on the basis of ideas about the object in the material world. Thus, certain categories of things are practically unsuitable as objects or tools. However, only the practice of their application allows us to establish the truth.

Objects of labor are components of production facilities. This category includes everything that is subjected to any processing. Human labor is directed towards these objects.

Some such objects exist in nature and are natural. These include timber, coal, oil, etc. Others are the results of labor - "raw material". These include cotton, metal, wood.

In the production process, the final, intermediate and initial forms of the state of objects of labor are distinguished.

When determining the duration of the production cycle, different objects of labor can be used.

In a sequential order, each new operation begins only after processing of all products from the previous operation is completed. With parallel movement, after completing the first operation, each product is transferred to another operation without waiting for the entire batch to be processed initially. Thus, the period of passage of the subject of labor through all operations is reduced.

Parallel-sequential order involves the start of the subsequent operation before the completion of processing of the previous batch of products. This reduces time and ensures uninterrupted loading of all workstations.

Tools– these are all material elements, “mechanical means of labor” (according to K. Marx) with the help of which man influences nature. Tools are designed to provide people with food, clothing and housing, and also significantly facilitate manual labor. Tools of labor include all the tools and devices with which a person processes objects of labor and produces final products. The development of man and society as a whole is directly related to the development of tools, since the production of tools is a reflection of the level of human development.

Primitive tools– at first glance it seems that tools (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, etc.) were made exclusively from stone. However, it is not. The first ancient tools and objects of labor were made not only from stone. A tree (stick, log, bark, flexible branches) was also an indispensable device in the difficult life of primitive man. Gradually, bones, horns and tusks of killed animals were added to them, and later clay, from which man began to create ceramics and, finally, metals. From a large variety of metals (copper, bronze, iron, silver, gold, etc.) man made tools and means of labor, gradually improving them and finding applications for them in various spheres of life: agriculture, hunting, everyday life.

When did people first make stone tools? What were the tools of labor in ancient times? What tools did ancient people use? Was there a difference between the tools of primitive farmers and primitive hunters? The questions are really interesting. This article provides fairly complete and detailed answers to all these questions and describes the evolution of tools: from the appearance of the first tools made of stone (handaxe, chopper, etc.) to modern ones made of steel.

The first tools of Stone Age man

The Stone Age (2-2.5 million years ago) is the very first, longest (97% of the entire history of mankind) and the most interesting period in human development. The Stone Age is called “stone” because man began to make the first stone tools at this time.

The Stone Age is divided into three periods. Historians made this division for a reason - each period differs from the other in how people used stone and how much the processing of stone changed. Drawings of ancient man's tools made of stone are preserved in rock paintings. So, the Stone Age is divided into:

Ancient Stone Age (from 2.5 million to 12 thousand years BC) – Paleolithic (early, middle and late);

Middle Stone Age (from 12 thousand to 5 thousand years BC) - Mesolithic;

New Stone Age (from 5 thousand to 3 thousand years BC) – Neolithic (pre-ceramic and ceramic in the Middle East, early and late in Europe and Asia).

From period to period, the stone tools of ancient people became more and more complex. The stone was studied, the Neanderthals began to notice that the stones differed from each other in their structure and hardness and that what could be made from one type of stone was ineffective to make from another. That is why tools during the Stone Age were made from various types of stones. For example, ordinary chipped flint (the tool was a chopper) was used as a cutting tool, limestone slate as a tool for the work of an ancient hunter, and basalt and sandstone as hand mills.

The stone tools, photos of which are presented, clearly prove that they were primitive, but very effective.

The historical countdown of time originates from the Stone Age. This happens when man begins making tools in the Stone Age to help himself. It took from 500 thousand to 1 million years for this process to become conscious and volitional; during this time, not only the brain underwent qualitative changes, but also the tools of labor were improved. The process of human formation ended approximately 800-600 thousand years ago and received the scientific name “anthropogenesis”.

If you are a fan of solving crossword puzzles, then to the question: “Tools of primitive man, 6 letters,” you answered without hesitation: “Stone.” However, this is not true. Stone is a natural material from which man made tools. So the oldest tool made of stone was the chopper.

Gradually, following the stone, materials such as wood, bone, shells, animal horns and clay began to enter into the everyday life of primitive man. And primitive tools were made from all these materials.

Tools during the Paleolithic period

Paleolithic (from 2.5 million to 12 thousand years BC) - the history of human development begins from this period. The stone and stick were primitive, just like the life of primitive people. Historians called them Homo habilis - a skilled man - Australopithecus. The main occupations were fruit gathering and hunting. The making of tools was not much different from their use. At first they were completely primitive, for example, they used a heavy stone to knock down fruits from trees, cut the bones of animals with a sharp stone, and split or chopped up knocked down fruits.

Names of the tools of labor of primitive man (Paleolithic)

In excavations, archaeologists found primitive tools, the names of which were invented based on how the Neanderthals made them. Here is a photo of the tools of labor of primitive man during the Paleolithic period. As you can see, primitive pebble tools were made very skillfully by representatives of Australopithecus.

So, the Paleolithic period, the Stone Age, the first tools, list:

• ax - the very first tool of labor of ancient man - the ax was a heavy (more than 1 kg) solid (more than 20 cm in length) stone tool;
• chopper - a labor tool, which is a stone chipped from one side (one blade), was used to butcher the carcass of a killed animal;
• chopping - a tool of labor of the ancient inhabitants - a stone processed on both sides (two blades);
• scraper - a tool made of bones, the most numerous and varied in shape, intended for processing and cutting animal skins and wood;
• scrapers - ancient tools of primitive man in the form of a convex blade, processed by retouching;
• cleaver-cleaver - a tool of primitive people, a processed fairly large tool with symmetrically processed edges, but not processed by retouching;
• monoface - a tool in ancient times, in which the stone, with the help of trimming, was processed on one side;
• biface - a tool, the stone was chipped on both sides;
• spear - oddly enough, during the Paleolithic period the spear performed a striking function;
• an awl and a drill are bone tools;
• pointed tip - an almond-shaped massive stone product with convex shapes, processed by retouching. Used for complex compound tools;
• incisors - chips converging at an acute angle, cutting tools made of stone. They used them to cut wood, bones or antlers, saw deep grooves, make cuts, remove shavings;
• points, needles and harpoons are bone tools.

The process of making ancient tools was quite simple. Pebbles were beaten against each other so that chips formed along the edges. The broken parts of stones also became ancient tools - flakes. 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 the impact site and hit it at a certain angle and with a certain force.

The development of the tools of labor of primitive man did not stop for a minute. Homo habilis began to set itself more and more complex tasks. He wanted to make a weapon of a strictly specified, sometimes quite complex shape. In ancient times, a system of covering with small chips, called “retouching” in archeology, was used for this purpose. These techniques developed and improved over a very long time - from one era to another. And the stone tools of the Paleolithic, as well as the primitive life of primitive people, gradually changed.

By the end of the Paleolithic, stone tools, and by this time there were already about 150 varieties, were replaced by bone ones. Bone has become a widely used material, just like stone and wood previously. Ancient people no longer used only bone tools. Jewelry is made from animal bones and teeth, and massive bones are used in housing construction.

People begin to depend on animals to survive. There is a migration of communities following the herds of animals to the south. They began to use spears and bows for hunting, and for the construction of primitive dwellings they began to use not only bones, but also animal skins.

Another great discovery that man made during this period was fire. He managed not only to keep the fire, but also to get it.

Tools during the Mesolithic period

The Mesolithic (12-5 thousand years BC) began with the last ice age and ended with rising sea levels, when people had to adapt to new environmental conditions. The tools of the Mesolithic Stone Age were not very different from those made during the Late Paleolithic period, but they changed in quality.

In addition to Neanderthals, Cro-Magnons, the ancestors of modern humans, appeared during this period. For 30 thousand years, both these peoples were fiercely at enmity with each other. During excavations, gnawed bones were found; at Neanderthal sites, gnawed bones of Cro-Magnons and vice versa. This enmity played a significant role in the improvement of tools. For example, the Cro-Magnons used two flat stones as a tool as a mill, they made jewelry from bones and antlers, and they strengthened their homes with stone slabs.

Name of Mesolithic tool

During the Mesolithic, the first small stone tools appeared - microliths - miniature stone tools. Obtaining thin plates of the correct shape allows the stone to be used as a tool for small work. Mesolithic tools were as follows:

The photo shows the labor tools of an ancient man of the Mesolithic era. As you can see, ancient people began to make tools intended for various specific purposes, for example, for hunting, for cooking or for building housing. There is a division of primitive tools according to their functional abilities: some catch and kill animals, others cut up their carcasses, others dig the ground, trim and process wooden sticks, etc.

In the Mesolithic, woodworking tools were widely used. Woodworking has reached a large scale. Ancient people living in forest and forest-steppe zones learned to make boats, skis and even sleighs from wood, processing them with stone tools. Tools made of wood, which were connected to stone attachments (axes, chisels, etc.), began to be used everywhere.

Stone tools were used to process horns, bones, animal skin, hides and birch bark. They made fishing hooks, needles, jewelry, hoes and picks. They began to make shoes from fur and leather. Subsequently, all these tools were replaced with metal tools. In the meantime, everything was made from bones and stone.

It is impossible to trace exactly how the “transformation” of people into modern people took place. Therefore, in Latin he is also called homo sapiens sapiens or “twice intelligent” man. A person of this species no longer had practically anything in common with a monkey - his arms became shorter, his forehead became higher, and a chin appeared. Its evolution is confirmed by rock paintings of primitive tools.

The first domestic animal in human history appeared - the dog.

Tools during the Neolithic period

Neolithic (5-3 thousand years BC) is an era in the history of human development that ends the Stone Age. The Neolithic revolution of labor tools begins, which is determined by the following:

Complex silicon tools appeared. For example, a silicon knife, which was produced in three stages. At the first stage, the flint blank was processed with a stone striker; it was quite rough. Then they carefully trimmed the pinch with a soft striker made from animal bone. And the third final stage was bringing the blade of the silicon knife to its final sharp state. At this stage, the ancient flint tool already resembles a modern knife or machete. You can verify this by looking at the knives and ancient tools, photos of which you see.

Flint became the most common stone. After it in importance came quartzite, obsidian, slate, jasper and jade. Mining began to develop, the first mines appeared.

Neolithic tools:

• curved hooks, harpoons, net weights and nets - stone and bone fishing tools;
• flint knife, horn linings for bows, bone tips and leaf-shaped stone arrowheads, flint hunting weapons - ancient tools of labor and hunting;
• horn picks, picks, lamps - mining tools;
• harvesting knives, sickles and scrapers - agricultural tools;
• complex mills, spindle whorls - weaving tools.
• whorls are small round stones that were specially processed and mounted on a spindle. Later, spindle whorls began to be made from clay. Nettle, flax and hemp were used as threads.

Ceramics are the most important invention of the Neolithic period. In completely different places, but not far from water, on different continents, ancient people invented ceramic dough: they added asbestos, river sand and crushed shells to talc. The vessels were made in two ways. The first method was hollowing out, and the second was to sequentially stick rings to each other in a circle, thus increasing the required height of the product.

The key feature of the Neolithic for archaeologists was the ornamentation of ceramics. Products made from ceramic dough were fired over fire in primitive furnaces (furnaces) and painted with mineral paints.

Results of the Stone Age

The knowledge that man gained experimentally during this long period helped ancient man not only in the daily struggle for life, but also contributed to the fact that ancient people were able to survive the Ice Age and move from the African continent to Java, Northern China and Europe. A new era of a “straightened” person begins, his life becomes large-scale, large-scale in everything. People begin to hunt large animals - elephants and deer. They learn to use fire, which warms and protects primitive people.

The brain continues to develop, thereby developing and introducing complications into human activity. And 250 thousand years ago homo sapiens appears - “reasonable man” or, as he is also called, Neanderthal. Homo sapiens for the first time settles in the high caves in which bears wintered before him, meat becomes the main source of food. The tools of labor of Homo sapiens differ significantly from those of primitive Homo habilis. During this period, primitive tools of labor and hunting became more diverse and functional.

During this period, from an ordinary chipped stone used as a knife, tools developed to long, light and sharp knives. Spear and dart tips 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 killed animals. Awls and needles made from bone appeared, the thinnest of which were almost no different 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.

Tools specially designed for digging dugouts and storage pits began to be made from tusk and horn. There were probably many other specialized objects made of stone, bone and wood during this period. But the purpose of many of them found at ancient sites still remains a mystery to archaeologists. The change in tools led to the division of primitive people into hunters, fishermen, peasants, and so-called tillers. A person who makes tools also stands out, and in the future this type will develop into a craftsman who will create clay vessels, ceramic household items, weave linen or woolen cloth, sew clothes, etc.

When man learned what metal was, the Stone Age ended and the next one began - the “Copper Age” (Neolithic Age).

Chalcolithic or Copper Age. Tools in the Copper Age.

The Copper Age or Chalcolithic (5-3 thousand years BC) is a small transitional era that replaced the Stone Age with the Bronze Age. In many areas of the ancient world, this age is simply absent and the Stone Age immediately turns into the Bronze Age. Therefore, some historians attribute the Eneolithic to the Bronze Age, and some to the Stone Age. But archaeologist F. Pulsky in the 19th century identified the Neolithic as a separate transitional age.

The tools of the Eneolithic (Copper Age) era underwent a number of significant changes - copper appeared. For the first time, people found copper in the form of nuggets that looked like stones. They tried to hit them with other stones to make chips. Although pieces of the nuggets did not break off, the nuggets themselves were deformed and took on different shapes. This is how the first cold forging appeared.

Copper was the first metal from which Eneolithic tools were made. The first copper primitive tools (the photo shows this well) were not of particular variety. Yes, they weren’t really needed, because they were fragile and therefore remained unclaimed.

Copper tools were not particularly widespread during the Chalcolithic period, the main reason being that nuggets were rare. People who lived in regions where there was a lot of copper (for example, the territory of modern Kazakhstan, Donetsk region or Transbaikalia) immediately understood the advantage of this metal. Copper was soft and therefore tools could be repaired if broken, rather than making a new one, as is necessary if the tool is made of stone or bone.

After some time, bronze appears. During the Chalcolithic period, the main tools of labor of the Eastern Slavs were made of bronze and copper. In the Middle East, copper and bronze tools have been replacing stone ones since the 4th millennium BC. At the same time, copper tools appeared in China, during the Hongshan and Majiayao cultures. And bronze tools are the main attraction of the subsequent Qijia culture.

This is how the Bronze Age begins.

Bronze Age. Tools.

Bronze Age (from 3 thousand years to 1.2 thousand years BC) - people learned to make bronze - an alloy of tin and copper. This century is characterized by the rapid development of the manufacture of tools made of bronze, the improvement of the processing of this metal and the improvement of tools made of copper.

The Bronze Age is divided into:

• early (RBV) – from 3 thousand years to 2 thousand years BC.
• middle (SBV) - from 2 thousand years to 1.6 thousand years BC.
• late (LBV) - from 1.6 thousand years to 1.2 thousand years BC.

In the Copper Age, as described above, people found nuggets of copper, but copper is a soft metal, and therefore people did not stop at this find and began to look for stronger metals. But unfortunately, metals are quite rare, compared to at least the same stone and animal bones. People also found tin, but it was also soft and not at all suitable for making tools.

A huge step in the evolution of tools was an alloy of tin and copper, which was called bronze. Bronze is a strong and durable metal from which weapons of any shape and size could be made, and most importantly, bronze blades were sharpened to amazing sharpness. The first metal tools made of bronze became a real breakthrough in their production. They were strong, durable and served people for a long time.

Bronze Age tools

On the territory of modern Kazakhstan, in Donetsk, the Baikal region, Transbaikalia, the Caucasus and the Urals, the technology of making tools from bronze is spreading, since it was there that large deposits of rocks, copper and tin ore were discovered.

Bronze tools were really strong, they did not break so often and lasted much longer than stone, bone and wood ones. That is why people began to think about how to get the necessary ingredients from underground. They began to improve mines and tools for working in them.

At that time, ore rich in tin and copper was mined to make bronze. Mining proceeded along ore-bearing veins; loose ore was extracted using hammers and axes using the “picking” method. And dense rocks of ore were set on fire when they heated up by dousing them with cold water, while the ore became loose and was chopped off with stone picks, poured into leather bags with shovels and taken outside. If the ore fell out in the form of fine dust, then it was shoveled into bags with a cattle or animal shovel.

Photos of Bronze Age tools clearly demonstrate how diverse and sophisticated they were. So, the tools of the Bronze Age people:

Tools of labor of ancient miners:

• made of stone - massive picks, hammers, mortars for grinding ore and wedges;
• improved pickaxes - a metal tool mounted on a handle;
• from quartz - chippers and axes;
• made of bronze - pickaxes with four sides;
• from horns - hammers and wedges;
• from the shoulder blade of a large animal - shovels and scrapers;
• melting furnaces forges.

Bronze tools for hunting:

• daggers and knives;
• arrow and spear tips.

Craftsmen's tools:

• fork axes;
• made of bronze - daggers, knives, needles;
• made of stone - grain grinders (a tool made of two flat stones), mortars, sinkers, pestles;
• made of clay - karchags (clay vessels), jugs, bowls, plates;
• made of bone - various tools for artisans.

A new method of bone processing was invented: the bone was placed in boiling water in a pot and boiled until it became soft, fat-free and pliable. It was given the desired shape and allowed to cool. When cooled, the bone acquired its original properties - elasticity and hardness.

In the countries of the modern West, Bronze Age tools were easily recognized by archaeologists by their traditional sets:

• socketed axes;
• grooved and flat chisels and adzes;
• two-blade daggers and handle knives;
• forged tips for arrows and spears;
• the farmer's labor tool is the cleaver sickle and plate-shaped sickle-shaped tools for cultivating the land;
• for fishing - bronze hooks and harpoons.
• Celt axes and blades are cast from bronze.

Ceramic dishes became more advanced, flat-bottomed pots, jars and bowls appeared, all of which were decorated with shells, which were added to the ceramic dough. A very wide variety of metal tools.

Ancient Greece. Tools

Since the 4th century BC. Crafts developed at a rapid pace, and accordingly, the tools of labor of Ancient Greece also underwent great and qualitative changes. During this period of time in Greece there were masters and slaves. One owner had from 2 to 20 slaves. Tools in Ancient Greece belonged to the owners, and they were naturally used by slaves. Therefore, in order to gain greater benefit from a smaller number of subordinates, the masters were interested in the development of tools.

One slave artisan could make completely different products, i.e. At that time there was no division into crafts. Therefore, the tools were multifunctional, simple and uncomplicated. During the Bronze Age, the tools of labor of the ancient Greeks became perfect:

• blacksmith's tools - forge, tongs, anvil, axe, hammer, metal cutters, iron saws, steel stone cutting tools;
• plowman's tools - plowshares, hoes, shovels, sickles;
• gardeners' tools - knives for cutting grapes, axes, simple pruners;

Foundry in Ancient Greece was especially widespread and differed from other regions in its sophistication and high quality of workmanship: casting in bronze, silver, copper and gold, chasing, forging and relief processing “toreutics”.

Tools of labor of Ancient Greece foundry:

• special hammer for embossing;
• chasing - a tool with a working end having different geometric shapes;
• a special tool with a strongly pointed end for engraving;
• stone matrix;
• clay molds;
• cutters and rasps - for grinding and removing defects from the finished cast form.

Mining tools in Ancient Greece:

• iron pick, wooden wedges, chisels and sledgehammers - for separating rocks;
• iron saws, axes and scrapers - for excavating limestone;
• adze, catfish, chisel and hammer - for cutting stones;
• primitive compass, water level, plumb level - for sawing geometrically regular stone blocks.

Special workers looked after the tools - sharpened them, repaired them in case of breakage.

Results of the Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is the appearance of metal tools that were truly strong and durable. The use of metal tools (mainly bronze) became so convenient and widespread that it covered literally all areas of human activity of that era.

Along with tools, people learned to make very exquisite and beautiful jewelry from bronze, bracelets from copper and silver, wire pendants, and plaques. Rosette plaques on women's costumes became an ethnographic feature of the Bronze Age. All jewelry was made using chasing, forging and embossing.

In addition to bronze, man began to use silver, billon, learned to make wire, and make unique intricate stone and bone products (shoe buckles, plaques for clothes and hats, fasteners, etc.).

In the Bronze Age, people achieved high skill in mining, in the manufacture of weapons, jewelry and, of course, tools. Various and aesthetically beautiful household items and kitchen utensils appeared. People began to master the techniques of embossing, polishing, grinding and stamping metals. They learned how to apply designs to bronze products (i.e., hard metals), and the ornament itself became more complex.

During this period, the decomposition of the primitive communal system began - inequality appeared, both in property and in position in society (the division between the poor and the rich). People began to impose prohibitions - taboos - on certain tools of production, which only tribal leaders or rich families could have. Some Bronze Age tools were purely aesthetic in nature, for example, daggers with particularly beautiful ornaments, knives or vessels. They were not used in action, but were kept and displayed as proof of their privileged position in the tribe.

The beginnings of a religious worldview are being laid.

Iron Age. Tools.

The Iron Age (from 1.2 thousand years BC to the 5th century AD) is the beginning of the spread of iron metallurgy. Although iron tools appeared gradually in all countries of the world, the Iron Age first occurred in Ancient Greece, Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, India and China. It was there that primitive tribes began to make iron products for the first time. Gradually, iron tools became more and more numerous, and they began to displace bronze ones; by the way, this trend continues to this day.

What were the advantages of iron tools over bronze ones? This question has worried historians for a long time.

At first glance, all the advantages and disadvantages are on the side of tools made of bronze. Firstly, bronze products are more durable than iron ones and are not afraid of corrosion. Secondly, the wear time of bronze is much longer than iron. And thirdly, the production (smelting) of iron requires a much higher temperature, which in turn requires more effort.

The answer turned out to be not so obvious: it turned out that iron in nature contains much more tin, which is necessary for making bronze. And therefore, the transition from bronze tools to iron ones was in no way connected with the advantages of one metal over another.

Iron tools

We will not list all the tools made of iron, since these are almost all already known tools that were made in wood, stone and bronze. Here will be a list of iron tools that appeared only with iron and steel. So, a list of iron tools that appeared with the discovery of iron:

• iron scythes and sickles - used for making hay;
• plow, shovels - cut out and turned over the turf layer of earth;
• saws and axes - for cutting down forests and especially thick trees;
• lathe – for processing wood;
• pottery wheel - made it possible to produce smooth, thinner and more elegant dishes;
• traps and snares;
• blacksmith's tongs;
• skimmer knife.

After some time, man began to explore the qualitative characteristics of iron. Experiments began on possible compounds and alloys. As a result, one of the hardest and most durable alloys arose, which is still valued in our modern times - steel. Steel is an alloy of iron with carbohydrate, which after hardening, i.e. after treatment at high temperatures it became superhard.

In China, iron development goes its own way. Back in the 3rd century BC. (end of the Copper Age - beginning of the Bronze Age) in China, tools were made from iron. The iron tools of China greatly facilitated agricultural work, increased productivity and marked the beginning of the cultivation of those lands that were previously impossible to cultivate. Also in China, they began to produce world-famous iron swords (Kingdom of Chu and Han), shovels (Kingdom of Zhao) and pikes with forts (Kingdom of Qin).

It was impossible to even foresee how the use of iron tools affected people's lives. Due to more food, supplies and an improved quality of life, intensive population growth began, which gave impetus to the development of social life.

Results of the Iron Age

From 1.2 thousand years BC. to the 1st century AD iron tools are considered a luxury, and iron mining is very small. Iron metallurgy is developing in India, Southern Europe and Western Asia. From the 1st century AD to the 3rd century, everyday tools were already made from iron, and iron mining expanded significantly. Steel appears. However, they still use bronze and stone tools.

By the 4th century, iron tools were already being made in Northern Europe and Egypt. Iron came to the Far East by the 5th century. At the very end of the Iron Age, most stone and bronze tools had already been completely replaced by steel and iron.

One fact is noteworthy: in South Africa, where copper deposits significantly exceed iron deposits, copper was used exclusively as decoration, and iron was used only for tools. There, iron mining began in the 4th century BC. They began to receive steel very early. In Nubia, Sudan and Libya, the Iron Age came immediately after the Iron Age, bypassing the Copper and Bronze Ages.

Middle Ages. Tools

The Middle Ages is the era of the “great migration of peoples,” the historical period between antiquity and modern times. Germanic tribes began to settle in vast areas of Eurasia. The historical period of time when relationships between people in the form of master and servant began to form. However, this article considers only the evolution of tools and therefore we will not dwell on the formation of certain systems, but will consider only medieval tools.

Let us dwell only on how the peasants appeared, because it was they who needed the tools of labor. Initially, the whole tribe went to war, then people realized that some fought well, while others grew vegetables. Therefore, only wars began to go to war, while the rest stayed and supplied food to all members of the tribe who were left without breadwinners. So, to put it briefly, the peasantry appeared.

Tools of labor of medieval peasants of the 5th-7th centuries

Tools for agricultural work were distributed mainly among peasants. The tools of labor of the Middle Ages did not undergo any special changes, and over time, the tools of the Middle Ages remained practically unchanged. This is due to the following: the rich did not want to spend on improving and facilitating the work of their serfs, and the poor simply did not have the money for this. So, the tools of the Middle Ages:

• plow and plow - for light soils of the forest belt;
• plow with an iron share - for heavy soils;
• harrow, sickle for harvesting, chain for threshing grain.

Slavic tools

In the vastness of Europe (near the Oka, Volga, Don, Dnieper and Western Dvina) lived the Slavs - the ancestors of modern Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. Then they were called Polans, Dregovichs, Slovenians, Drevlyans, Severyanens, Rodimichs, Vyatichi, Ulichs, Krivichis and others. The main occupations were hunting, fishing, cattle breeding, pottery, construction and honey collection. Already at that time there were healers.

Tools of labor of the Eastern Slavs

The settled population of Eastern Europe, which included the central regions of Rus', was engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, horse breeding, beekeeping, hunting and the development of impenetrable forest lands. So what were the tools of labor of the Eastern Slavs? At first it was quite primitive: an axe, a hoe, a harrow-harrow - for reclaiming plots of land from the forest. On cleared plots of land, crops were harvested for 2-3 years, then the next ones were cleared; this farming system was called “slash-and-slash.”

The tools used by the Eastern Slavs living in the steppes were almost the same. The exception is the axe; it was not widespread among them. Here they cultivated the land and harvested crops until the land was completely depleted. Then they moved to another piece of land. This farming system was called fallow.

There were quite different occupations of the Eastern Slavs, whose tools differed greatly depending on their functions: blacksmiths, tillers, potters, goldsmiths, hunters, fishermen, etc. There were about 150 types of instruments. The tools and weapons of the Eastern Slavs were made of iron, bronze, steel and wood. The main tools of the Slavs were made of iron and were distinguished by high quality, strength and durability.

Tools of labor of Ancient Rus'

The Old Russian state (XII century AD) was created in the Middle Ages. By the time of its creation, metallurgy was already quite developed and separated from metalworking, and a separate craft was formed - blacksmithing.

The tools of labor in Ancient Rus' were very diverse and there were more than 150 types of tools made of iron and steel. All this played an important role in the development of trade relations between cities and rural areas. And the difficult hard life of the peasants was greatly facilitated by tools. Iron tools in Rus':

• sickles, scythes, shovels, plows - the tools of labor of Russian peasants;
• swords, spears, arrows, battle axes - for warriors;
• knives, locks, keys, needles, awls, chisels and staples - for household use;
• fishing hooks, sinkers, traps - for hunting and fishing.

Old Russian tools differed from those of other countries in their decoration. The decorations of the tools were exquisite and magnificent, since ancient Russian artisans and jewelers could skillfully mint on non-ferrous metals.

The most common material in Ancient Rus' was wood. Dwellings, fortifications for cities, and outbuildings were built from wood. The labor tools of the Russian people were also made from wood. Dishes, furniture, toys, utensils, ships, pavements, machine tools, sleighs and even plumbing were made.

There was wide demand not only in Rus', but also in adjacent countries for products made of non-ferrous metals made by Russian craftsmen. Here is an incomplete description of the tools of labor in Rus' made of non-ferrous metals: women's jewelry, clothing decorations, church utensils, decorative dishes, horse harness, decorations for weapons, etc.

Muscovite Rus' was famous for its coining, forging, rolling, engraving, embossing, stamping, drawing, blackening, enamel, gold-plating and metal inlay. All these operations required special tools:

• anvil for coining;
• bone hammers, figured and simple iron hammers;
• mints, flares, nippers and tweezers;
• chisels, drills, clamps, scissors and bits.

All these tools for processing non-ferrous metals were quite developed and very functional.

The Mongol-Tatar invasion suspended the development of ancient Russian crafts for more than a hundred years. The tools of labor in Rus' were at the peak of their development and this saved Russian blacksmiths, weavers, potters, gunsmiths and other artisans from complete stagnation. In the cities not captured by the Tatar-Mongols, the production of tools and their development continued, but was burdened by the tribute that the Russian people had to pay to the Tatars.

You can talk about tools for an endlessly long time. It is impossible in one article to cover all nationalities and all the crafts that they practiced. We tried to describe the most interesting facts of the development of tools. Answer questions such as: “What were the most ancient tools of human labor?”, “Why did primitive people make tools?”, “What tools were there in the Paleolithic?”, “What tools were used in agriculture?” and so on.

Now you know that the first tool of ancient man’s labor made of stone was a chopper. Many people are really interested in this question. This ends the story about tools.

Tools of labor of primitive man

2.5 million - 1.5 million years BC e.

The basis of human formation is labor. Hands free from locomotor functions could use objects found in natural conditions - in nature - as tools. Although the use of a number of objects as means of labor is characteristic in embryonic form of some species of animals, a specific feature of man is that he not only uses found objects as tools, but creates these tools himself. Along with the development of the brain and vision, this characteristic feature of man creates the basic prerequisites for the formation of the human labor process and the development of technology.

Technical progress and the culture of mankind are now manifested not in randomly made primitive tools, but in the target orientation in their manufacture, in the similarity of examples of their processing, in the preservation or improvement of their forms, which presupposes knowledge of the characteristics of the raw materials and processed material and the experience accumulated over a certain time and skills passed on to future generations. All this had a huge impact on the development of the brain. Apparently, Australopithecus began to purposefully process wood and other materials.

The oldest primitive stone tools made from pebbles, made from similar patterns and processed in a similar way, were found with the remains of fossil hominids. The creator of these tools is considered to be a “skilled man” - homo habilis. By hunting animals they obtained not only food, but also skins, bones, tusks and horns of animals, which were used to make various tools. Long animal bones and antlers were used as tools without further processing. Sometimes they were only broken and split.

2.5 million – 600 thousand years BC e.

One of the prerequisites for labor and the production of standardized tools was the emergence and development of primitive speech. The results of modern research do not provide any basis for determining when speech arose. Apparently, a person of the modern type - homo sapiens, who appeared about 40-30 thousand years ago, had sufficiently developed speech organs.

For a very long period, until the advent of agriculture, people obtained their food in two ways - by collecting fruits, plants, gifts of nature and by hunting. Women and children collected fruits, seeds, roots, shellfish, eggs, insects, shells, and caught small animals. The men hunted large animals, caught fish and some types of birds. To hunt and catch animals, it was necessary to make tools. The division of labor between the sexes - between man and woman - is the first significant division of labor in the history of mankind, which, like the improvement and development of tools, is one of the most important conditions for the progress of civilization.

The production of tools from stone began - pebbles, granite, flint, slate, etc. These tools looked like a piece of stone, which, as a result of one or two chips, resulted in a sharper edge - a stone chopper. The cleaving technique was as follows: the manufacturer held the stone being processed in one hand, and in the other a boulder, which he used to hit the stone being processed. The resulting flakes were used as scrapes. Typically, the production of stone tools processed using the cleaving technique was carried out by older people. In some areas, this technique existed for almost 2 million years, that is, until the end of the Stone Age.

Production activity during this period was made possible, despite the limited technical means, thanks to collective labor, which was facilitated by the emergence of speech. The most important role in the struggle for existence was played by the purposeful social relations of people, their courage and determination to survive the struggle against animals that were many times stronger than humans.

600 – 150 thousand years BC e.

500 thousand years BC e. Sananthropus - Peking Man - appeared in China.

200 thousand years BC e. Homo sapiens appeared in China.

The most important invention of this period was the creation of a new universal tool - a hand ax. In the beginning, hand axes were made using the chopping technique. One end was cut off on both sides, sharpening it. The opposite end of the pebble was left untreated, which made it possible to hold it in the palm of your hand. The result was a wedge-shaped weapon, with uneven zigzag edges and a pointed end. Then the working part of the weapon began to be corrected with two or three more chips, and sometimes the correction was done using a softer material, such as bone.

At the same time, along with the universal hand ax, several types of flakes appeared, which were obtained by splitting stones. These were thin flakes, flakes with sharp edges, short thick flakes. The cleaving technique spread during the Lower Paleolithic period (100 thousand - 40 thousand years BC). At sites inhabited by synanthropes, for example, in rock caves near Beijing, the remains of fires were found along with stone tools.

The use of fire is one of the most important stages in the development of mankind. The acquisition and use of fire made it possible to expand the possibilities of human settlement and existence, and created opportunities for the diversity of human nutrition and food preparation. Fire provided new ways of defense against predators. And nowadays fire is the basis for many branches of technology. In ancient times, people made fire only as a result of natural phenomena - from fires, lightning, etc. The fire was kept in fire pits and constantly maintained.

Long wooden spears with burnt hard tips appear. The hunters who invented such spears also used hand axes when hunting animals.

150 – 40 thousand years BC e.

Neanderthals, and perhaps also some other ancestors of the human race, mastered the art of making fire during the Upper Paleolithic period. It is difficult to accurately determine the date of this great invention, which determined the further development of human history.

Initially, fire was obtained by rubbing wooden objects, but soon fire began to be obtained by carving, when a spark appeared when a stone hit a stone. There are other opinions regarding the original methods of making fire - at first fire was obtained by carving, and later by friction. In a later period, a bow-type device was used to make fire by friction. Having learned to make fire, man began to consume boiled meat, which affected his biological development. However, the fire could not save the person from the onset of cold weather. To survive, people began to build houses.

At this time, changes occurred in the methods and techniques of processing stone tools. They began to be made from flakes obtained by chipping from a stone nodule - a core (nucleus). The flint core was pre-processed. Round chips were used to give it a certain shape, the surface was leveled with smaller chips, after which plates were chipped from the core, from which points and scrapers were made. The blades were more elongated than the flakes, shaped and of a thinner cross-section; one side of the plate after chopping was smooth, and the other side was subjected to additional processing - finer beating.

Axes, chisels, drills and thin knife-shaped plates were made from stone cores. Animals were caught using specially dug holes. The organization of the team improves when expanding pasture farming and when hunting animals. As a rule, the hunt was of a driven-raid nature.

For dwellings, caves, rock terraces, primitive dugouts and buildings were used, the foundations of which went deep into the ground. Neanderthals conquered quite wide areas. Their traces were found in the North, in particular in the West Siberian Lowland, in Transbaikalia, and in the valley of the middle Lena. This became possible after man learned to make and use fire. At this time, natural conditions also change, affecting a person’s lifestyle. For a long time, until the advent of metals, tools were made mainly of stone, hence the names Old Stone Age (Paleolithic), Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic) and New Stone Age (Neolithic). The Paleolithic, in turn, is divided into lower (early) and upper (late). After the Ice Age, a new geological era begins - the Holocene. The climate is getting warmer.

The development of cold regions involves new changes in human clothing. It began to be made from the skins of killed animals. Already during the Lower Paleolithic period, many tools were made from the bones and horns of animals, the processing of which became more advanced. Objects made from bones were twisted, cut, hewn, split, and polished.

40 thousand - 12 thousand years BC e.

The formation of the modern type of man has ended. His remains are found along with objects and tools that indicate the emergence of technology during the Lower Paleolithic period. Human settlements are spreading over a large area of ​​the globe. This became possible thanks to the improvement of his experience, knowledge, and the development of technology, which allowed man to adapt to different climatic conditions.

Stone plates and blades made using percussion technology appear. Thin-section plates were subjected to secondary processing using bone tools - retouchers. Retouchers are tools for touching up other tools and are the first tools in history to create other tools.

Various types of anvils were used as cores when retouching items. Universal axes are being replaced by specialized tools that were made using the chopping technique. In this case, narrow plates are cut off from the small core - blanks, which are subsequently subjected to secondary processing.

Primitive stone skins, axes, chisels, saws, scrapers, cutters, drills and many other tools are made. In the Paleolithic and especially in the Neolithic, the technique of drilling using stone drills originated and developed. At first, they simply scraped out the holes. Then they began to tie the stone drill to the shaft and rotate it with both hands. Inserted tools appeared: stone or flint plates were connected to a wooden or bone handle. With the help of improved tools, the production of wooden, bone and horn objects and tools is significantly expanding: awls, needles with holes, fishing rods, shovels, harpoons, etc. In Georgia, in the paleolithic cave of Sagvardzhile, Turitella shells were found, which served as decoration and had holes obtained by sawing and scratching. On the islands of Melanesia, primitive tribes, in order to make a hole, first heated a flat stone, and then dropped drops of cold water into the same place from time to time, thereby causing microscopic chips, which, as a result of repeated repetition, led to the formation of a depression and even a hole.

In France, in Aurignac, the first bone needles were found at sites of the Upper Paleolithic period. Their age is attributed to approximately 28–24 millennium BC. e. They easily pierced skins, and instead of threads, plant fibers or animal tendons were used.

They are beginning to use improved insert drills, which were used to modify the gun. For example, insert tools were clamped and rotated between the palms. Then they began to use bow drilling (the bow string was wrapped around the shaft and the bow was moved away from you and towards you, with the other hand you held the shaft and pressed it against the workpiece), which turned out to be much more productive than manual drilling.

The technique of building dugouts is being improved, hut-type dwellings are being built, the bases of which go deep into the ground. The huts were reinforced with bones or fangs of large animals, which were also used to line the walls and ceilings. Huts with low clay walls and walls woven from branches and reinforced with poles or stakes appear. Liquid food products are heated and boiled in natural stone cavities, where hot stones are thrown for heating.

Clothing is made from animal skins. However, the leather is processed more carefully; individual skins are sewn together with animal tendons or thin leather straps. Leather processing technology is quite complex. The processing process is labor-intensive and includes chemical methods in which the skin is soaked in a salt solution, then the fat and juice of the bark of various types of trees are rubbed into the interior.

A man trains a dog to hunt an animal.

Sleighs were invented for land transportation of goods and for movement. By the end of this period, some types of raw materials are already transferred over long distances, for example, Armenian obsidian (volcanic glass), from which cutting and stabbing tools and other tools were made, is transported almost 400 km.

The first boats and rafts were made from a whole piece of wood for fishing. Fish are caught with fishing rods and harpoons, and nets appear.

Roofs made of brushwood are woven to cover the top of buildings. Making baskets is the beginning of the weaving technique.

Some archaeologists believe that the beginning of pottery was laid by the fact that woven baskets were coated with clay and then fired over a fire. Pottery and the production of ceramic products played a very important role in the history of technology, especially during the birth of metallurgy.

Examples of the beginning of ceramic production are clay figurines fired over fire.

Living in caves contributed to the emergence of lighting technology. The most ancient lamps were splinters, torches and primitive oil burners. From the Lower Paleolithic period, sandstone or granite bowls have been preserved, which were used as burners.

Along with household items, jewelry began to be made: beads made of coral and various teeth with holes in the middle, objects carved from bone and horns, and the first religious objects appeared. The first figurines of women, animals, ritual sculptures, and drawings, often beautifully executed, were found in the caves. Of interest is also the production of paints that have not changed their colors over tens of thousands of years.

During the Lower Paleolithic period, a new weapon was used to hunt animals and for self-defense - the spear thrower. The use of a spear thrower is an example of the use of leverage, which increases the speed and distance of a spear's flight.

The bow with a string, which hits a target at a great distance, is the pinnacle of invention at the end of this period. The bow as a weapon was successfully used for many millennia, right up to our era. Some researchers believe that the bow was invented approximately 12 thousand years ago, but arrowheads found during excavations indicate that they were made in an earlier period. The bow made it possible to successfully hunt animals, which, according to some scientists, led to the complete destruction of many species of animals and forced hunters to look for new opportunities for existence, that is, to switch to agriculture.

Fire is produced using a bow-type device.

Towards the end of the Lower Paleolithic period, the first mines were laid for the underground extraction of raw materials, primarily flint, slate, and later limestone, from which jewelry was made. In some areas, on the territory of the initial surface mining, holes are deepened, shafts are dug, adits are diverted from them, and stairs are built. This is how a new branch of production arises - mining. Raw materials were obtained by a primitive method of cutting down rock in mines and by chipping or sawing off layers of rock.

12 - 10 thousand BC e.

At the end of the Ice Age, as well as during the Holocene era, many species of large animals, such as the mammoth, musk ox, and woolly rhinoceros, became extinct. As a result, hunters began to specialize in catching a specific animal. Some groups of hunters hunt reindeer, others hunt gazelles, fallow deer, bezoar goats, etc. Herds of wild animals, near which hunters settled, represented a kind of natural reserve of food and meat. The proximity of settlements to natural pastures allowed hunters to catch wild animals and keep them near their homes. This is how the process of domestication of animals occurs, primarily sheep and goats. Gradually, conditions for the emergence of pasture farming are beginning to be created.

In the countries of Western Asia, the practice of regularly harvesting wild cereals - barley, oats, and einkorn wheat - is spreading. The grains were ground in special mortars. Manual stone grain grinders and grain graters appear.

10 – 8 thousand years BC e. Beginning of the Neolithic period. Climatic conditions become similar to modern ones, glaciers are retreating. Natural conditions, especially in the mountainous regions of Western Asia, the southern part of North America, etc., are not conducive to the expansion of hunting, creating the preconditions for the emergence of agriculture. In Russia, in Siberia, an abrasive tool was found, consisting of two stone bars with conical grooves, intended for making bone needles, awls or arrowheads. A workpiece was placed between the bars in the groove. Then they began to rotate it and move it in a back-and-forth motion, gradually moving it deeper into the conical hole, squeezing both halves of the bars with their hands and adding water. As a result of using such a tool, exactly identical sharp and even needles or arrowheads appeared. An ancient bone needle with a small hole drilled in it was found.

9500 BC e.

In some regions of the globe, primarily in the countries of Western Asia, the foundations of agriculture are being formed, which represents an epochal phenomenon in the history of mankind.

As a result of inefficient farming, only a limited number of people could count on a constant supply of food. However, with the development of agriculture and cattle breeding, man began to produce more than was necessary for his own needs - to obtain a surplus product, which allowed some people to feed themselves at the expense of the labor of others. The excess product created the prerequisites for the separation of crafts into an independent branch of production, which, first of all, created the conditions for the emergence of cities and the development of civilization. The process of establishing agriculture lasted several millennia.

Agriculture made it possible to create and store grain reserves for a long time. This helps people gradually transition to a sedentary lifestyle, build permanent homes, public buildings, allows them to organize more efficient farming, and later carry out specialization and division of labor.

Single-grain wheat began to be cultivated primarily in southern Turkey, double-grain wheat in the valley of southern Jordan, and double-row barley in northern Iraq and western Iran. Lentils spread quickly in Palestine, later peas and other crops appeared there.

The crop fields were first cultivated with poles pointed at the ends. However, tools intended for cultivating the soil were known earlier, before the advent of agriculture.

Gradually, improved tools for harvesting and reaping appeared: knives, sickles, flails, hand grain grinders with a mortar.

Simultaneously with the emergence of agriculture, the domestication of wild animals began - goats, sheep, later cattle, pigs, etc. Instead of ineffective hunting and trapping of wild animals, productive forms of farming such as livestock breeding were created.

Cattle breeding provides humans with meat and other food products, as well as clothing, raw materials for making tools, etc. Later, domestic animals are used as draft power. The question of whether agriculture or cattle breeding arose first is debated. Agriculture and cattle breeding are closely related. The domestication of wild animals apparently began in northern Syria or Anatolia (Turkey).

During this period, insert tools spread, the base of which was made of wood or bone, and the working part was made of a set of small stone plates, called microliths. The plates were most often made from flint, obsidian or other minerals. Thus, various knives, sickle-shaped tools, cutters with a blunt back or beveled edge, axes, hammers, hoes and other tools are created. These tools were used not only by the first farmers, but also by the majority of hunters, who began to cultivate the land much later, in subsequent millennia.

With the invention and widespread introduction of insert tools, a technical revolution occurred. Flint knives, saws, and chisels were placed into a wooden or bone base and secured with bitumen. One of the first composite and complex insert weapons was the bow and arrow. By the time of the invention of the bow, people used various economic devices in their economic activities - spear throwers, traps, traps.

The invention of the bow could have been prompted by the use of various throwing devices: spears, planks for throwing darts, etc. A person observed how energy was accumulated when bending branches or young trees, and released when straightening. The most ancient simple bows were made from a single bent stick, the ends of which were tied together with a bowstring made from animal tendons. At one end of the bow the string was attached with a knot, at the other it was put on with a loop. Compared to a spear, the use of a bow and arrow made it possible to increase the speed and distance of the arrow several times. In addition, the bow, compared to other throwing weapons, had aiming quality.

The arrow was made of wood, and the tip was made of microliths. Such arrows were light and long-range. The sizes of the bows varied - from 60 cm to 2 m or more. The bow quickly found use among different tribes and peoples. The image of a simple bow is found on ancient Assyrian and Egyptian monuments. He was known to the Romans, Gauls, and Germans. The Greeks, Scythians, Sarmatians, Huns and some other peoples used a more effective complex bow, which was glued together from several parts, from different types of wood, horn or bone.

The use of bows and arrows significantly increased human productivity and greatly facilitated the life of hunting tribes. In addition, it freed up time for collecting edible plants, including cereals, taming wild animals, fishing, collecting snails and mollusks. This was important because hunting did not satisfy the need for food. The bow and arrow laid the foundation for the technical prerequisites for the transition from hunting to agriculture and cattle breeding.

Microliths were used for many tools, including knives and then sickles. Fundamentally new means of labor, which found various economic applications, created the necessary technical prerequisites for the transition from hunting to agriculture and cattle breeding, that is, to a producing economy.

Sedentary farmers begin to build large residential buildings. Houses are built from twigs and coated with clay. Walls are sometimes built from separate layers of wet clay; mud bricks appear, stone buildings are erected. In some settlements of Western Asia in the 10th - 9th millennium BC. e. Up to 200 people lived there. Clay ovens were laid inside the structure and granaries were built for storing grain. A matting appears. Lime plaster is invented, which is used to coat buildings.

8 thousand years BC e.

A fortified city with about 3 thousand inhabitants was built in Jericho. The houses, round in plan, were built from mud brick. The entire city was surrounded by a wall of rubble stone with massive towers eight meters in diameter and 8 meters high. The height of the fortress walls was 4.2 meters. The walls were made of stone squares 2? 2 meters weighing several tons each. In the 8th millennium BC. e. and in subsequent millennia there were other fortresses.

Raw materials become traded items and are transported over long distances. Obsidian from Anatolia (Turkey) is transported to cities located at distances of over 1000 km. Some sources indicate that Jericho owes its power and prosperity to the obsidian trade.

The production of household ceramics emerges. Special ceramic or pottery kilns are built for firing clay objects and dishes.

8 – 6 thousand BC e.

The Neolithic, New Stone Age received its name due to the widespread introduction of new methods of processing large stone tools. Thus, a new method of processing stone tools by grinding, drilling and sawing appears. First, the workpiece is made, then the workpiece is ground. These techniques made it possible to move on to processing new, harder types of stone: basalt, jade, jadeite and others, which began to serve as the raw material for creating stone axes, hoes, chisels, picks. Various tools for working wood, mainly pointed axes, chisels and other tools, were embedded in a wooden base.

During processing, tools are cut and sawed with stone saws without teeth. Quartz sand served as an abrasive. Dry and wet grinding was used using special stone blocks. Sometimes grinding is carried out using sanding blocks, which are given appropriate profiles. Drilling holes, primarily cylindrical ones, using tubular bones or bamboo trunks, sharpened in the shape of teeth, is common. Sand was used as an abrasive. The use of sawing, drilling, and grinding made it possible to achieve a certain shape and cleanliness of the surface of the tool. Working with ground tools reduced the resistance of the material of the object being processed, which led to an increase in labor productivity. Over time, the grinding technique reaches a high level. Polished axes were of great importance among the tribes that occupied forest areas. Without such a tool in these areas, the transition to agriculture would be very difficult.

With polished stone axes, rigidly attached to a wooden handle through drilled cylindrical holes, they began to cut down forests, hollow out boats, and build houses.

8 - 7 thousand BC e. Already early landowners became familiar with metal. In Anatolia (Turkey) and Iran, individual objects and decorations, tools made of copper by cold metal processing were discovered: piercings, beads, awls. However, this method of making tools cannot yet replace the traditional technique of making tools from stone. The final transition from stone tools to metal ones occurred during the period of the slave system.

7 thousand BC e.

The formation of craft production begins.

The settlement of Çatalhöyük in Anatolia was built according to a single plan. It is located near a copper ore deposit, which was developed in II BC. e. For the construction of houses, they began to produce adobe blocks - mud bricks. Their shape was elongated or oval, width 20–25 cm, length – 65–70 cm. They were sculpted from clay mixed with coarsely chopped straw. The oval shape of the brick did not allow the walls of the houses to be made strong; they often collapsed. At the same time, the house was not restored, but rebuilt on the site of the previous building. The bricks were held together with clay and adobe mortar. The floors were painted white or brown.

Rectangular houses, usually one-room, are closely adjacent to each other, the roofs are high and ribbed. Inside there was a rectangular hearth. The length of the living quarters reaches 10 m, the width - 6 m. In the city itself there are many beautifully decorated religious buildings - sanctuaries. By their nature, they differed from residential buildings only in their larger sizes.

Gradually, crafts emerge and people who specialize in them appear. First of all, the profession of a miner stands out. Developments of flint from the Neolithic period were found in France, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and England. Poland is home to one of the oldest mining monuments - primitive flint mines. Large flint-working workshops were discovered in Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Open-pit workings gave way to mine developments. The oldest mines were shallow. The high quality of flint and its beautiful patterned design caused great demand for it.

Remains of textile products have been found in Anatolia, which proves the existence of spinning fabric from raw materials of plant origin and weaving on looms. Patterns woven on textiles have been discovered that resemble patterns on modern Turkish carpets. The raw material for spinning was wool, then silk, cotton and flax. Spinning was carried out in various ways, for example, by twisting the fibers between the palms.

Then spinning was carried out using a spindle with a whorl and a slingshot. At one end of the spindle there was yarn, at the other there was a spindle made of stone or clay to ensure rotation. In this case, the fibers were twisted into a strong thread and wound onto a spindle. They wove on primitive handlooms with a horizontal or vertical warp. The design of the machine was very simple. Two posts were driven into the ground, on which a horizontal bolster was secured. The main threads were tied to the roller, which were pulled with weights. The weft thread was wound around a stick with a pointed end. The weaver pushed this stick with the thread with his fingers alternately above and below the warp threads. Woven fabric and woven matting were dyed. Vegetable dyes, such as moraine, were used as dyes.

In the most developed areas of Western Asia, a further division of labor occurs. Part of the population is not directly involved in food production, but is engaged in handicraft production - the manufacture of tools, instruments, and household items. This division of labor between the farmer and the artisan gradually acquired significant significance for the development of technology and production, for the emergence of cities and the first state institutions.

7 - 6 thousand BC e. In Anatolia, copper was smelted from ore for the first time, as well as tin. Based on the results of studies of the preserved ash, scientists claim that the smelting temperature reached more than 1000 degrees Celsius. Experts express the opinion that copper was smelted from malachite, and brown coal was used as fuel. Over the next millennium, this method of copper metallurgy spreads to the emerging and developing cities of the Middle East.