Tool of labor or. Tools. Primitive tools of labor. Tools of labor during the Neolithic period

The entire life of primitive people falls on the period of the Stone Age, which began about 2.5 million years ago and ended in 3 thousand years BC. The beginning of the processing of natural materials is associated with the Stone Age, i.e. the emergence of material culture proper, in the process of development of which the "processing" of the person himself took place. The evolution of the material culture of the Stone Age has been studied quite well.

Already in the ancient Stone Age, or Paleolithic (Greek palaios - ancient and lithos - stone), which ended only 12 thousand years BC, people learned to use stone, bone and wood for the production of tools, but products prevailed made of stone. At first, these were rough stone hand chops, then stone knives, axes, hammers, scrapers, sharp-points appeared. By the end of the Paleolithic, there was a further improvement of stone (flint) tools, they learned to fit them on a wooden handle. Such large animals as mammoth, cave bear, bull, and reindeer became the subjects of hunting. People have learned to build more or less permanent settlements, primitive dwellings, and hide in natural caves.

A huge role was played by the mastery of fire that took place about 60 thousand years ago, which was obtained by friction of two pieces of wood. This for the first time gave people dominion over a certain force of nature and thereby finally pulled them out of the animal world. It was only thanks to the possession of fire that man was able to populate vast territories in the temperate zone and survive under the conditions of the harsh ice age.

The Paleolithic was replaced by a relatively short Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age (12-8 thousand years BC). In the Mesolithic, stone tools were further improved. The bow and arrow were also invented and widespread, which greatly increased the efficiency of hunting forest animals. For fishing, they began to use harpoons and nets.

Even greater changes in material culture took place with the advent of the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, 8 thousand years BC. In this era, grinding, drilling and other complex stone tools, pottery, and the simplest fabrics appeared. As the first agricultural tool, they began to use a simple digging stick, and then a hoe, which in an improved form has survived to this day. A wooden sickle with a silicon tip was created. In tropical forests, mobile slash-and-burn agriculture began, which has also survived to this day.

The most ancient type of economic activity of primitive people was gathering. Leading a gregarious, semi-nomadic lifestyle, they ate plants, fruits, and roots. To feed himself, a human-gatherer had to have a forage area of ​​more than 500 hectares, i.e. pass 25-30 km per day.

But gradually, pushing aside gathering, hunting first for small and then for large animals began to come to the fore. Active hunting in many ways changed the vital activity of ancient people. She also made them omnivorous out of vegetarians. Fishing began to develop along with hunting.

And only at the very end of the primitive era, in the Neolithic era, the transition from appropriating to arbitrary forms of economy began. It found its expression in the birth of primitive agriculture and cattle breeding. This process is called the Neolithic Revolution.

Subjects of labor are objects of the material world. These things, in the course of consumption, transfer their own material substance to another thing or change to the material substance of another thing. In connection with these circumstances, the object of labor is fully expended in the process of economic use.

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

For example, the machine on which the manufacturing 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 is transferred during the process of consumption (use) to the product. Thus, material is a 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 the value to the product.

Experts, meanwhile, draw attention to the fact that the division of things into tools or objects of labor depends on the nature of their use. So, the same part (thing) can be used in different ways. Thus, one and the same material object can be classified as an object of labor or as its tool.

The same machine is considered a typical tool. However, under certain circumstances (for example, at the time of sale to third parties) 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. Finding out what this thing is, you should take into account some facts. So, the body of the pen undoubtedly acts as a tool. Ink is consumed in the process of writing, transferring its material substance to a sheet of paper. Thus, ink is a subject of labor. As a result, an object that is used uniformly in a property complex may be related to a tool. However, along with this, the object under consideration also has an expenditure part related to the category of objects of labor.

Stored items are not classified. Although during this period, you can make certain assumptions. Conclusions about the features of the upcoming use of things can be made taking into account the intentions of the owners or based on established practice. However, in this case, existing knowledge can be refuted, and intentions can undergo changes.

It is possible to determine the nature of the future use of an object on the basis of ideas about the object in the material world. So, certain categories of things as objects or tools of labor are practically unsuitable. However, only the practice of their application makes it possible to establish the truth.

Subjects of labor are called a constituent part of production facilities. Everything that undergoes any kind of processing belongs to this category. Human labor is directed at these objects.

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

In the production process, the final, intermediate and initial form of the state of objects of labor is distinguished.

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

With a sequential order, the beginning of each new operation is carried out only after the processing of all products from the previous operation is completed. With parallel movement after the first operation, each product is transferred to another operation, without waiting for the initial processing of the entire batch. Thus, the period of passage of the subject of labor for all operations is reduced.

Parallel-sequential order involves the beginning of a subsequent operation before the completion of the processing of the previous batch of products. This saves time and ensures uninterrupted workload of all workstations.

Man has been developing the tools and means of labor for a long time. Constant work with stone, bone, wood demanded the manufacture of more and more perfect things. The first tools of labor, according to scientists-archaeologists, appeared approximately 5.5-3 million years ago. At this time, which is called the Stone Age, man made the first clothes, dishes, and built houses (Fig. 155).

After a person learned how to make fire and smelt metal, stone tools and means of labor were replaced by metal ones (Fig. 156).

The manufacture of tools of labor and the constant striving of a person to improve them, in particular, contributed to the development of the person himself. It is this process that is called evolution, gave the humanoid creature the opportunity to move away from the animal world and transform into homo sapiens(fig. 157). Improving the tools of labor, our ancestors invented the first mechanism for drilling holes in stone products, that is, they designed a primitive drilling machine, invented a wheel, a device for making fire, hunting tools, etc. (fig. 158).

However, even such complex devices as for that time required significant efforts when performing work, moreover, they were unreliable, too primitive and imperfect, which led to injury and a significant amount of time spent on performing certain work. This prompted a person to improve them, create new, more effective ones. This is how more advanced devices appear, which are set in motion by the muscular force of a person (Fig. 159).

Later, even more advanced tools appeared, which partially replaced the physical labor of a person with a machine. They were powered by wind, water, steam, etc. (fig. 160).

With the invention of methods for generating electrical energy, the design of machines begins, which perform various technological operations, and a person only directs. They are called industrial machines. You will learn about the peculiarities of their work in the future at the lessons of labor training.

The set of sequential human actions aimed at achieving a set goal, making certain products or performing other useful work is called labor process.

The main element of the labor process is technological operation. This is the finished part of the work process. For example: marking a workpiece and making it are two separate technological operations. The first is done with a pencil and ruler, the second with a saw. To perform certain technological operations, you must have the necessary equipment: a ruler, pencil, saw, hammer, etc. Things that a person uses to make products in order to satisfy their needs are called tools of labor.

In school workshops you will use a variety of tools. You have already used some of them in the manufacture of products.

Table. Tools Material from the site

Tools	Subject of Labor	Technological operation
Side nippers	Metal wire	Cutting (biting off)
Pliers	Metal wire, sheet metal strips	Cutting, bending, twisting wires, straightening, bending sheet metal, crimping the joints of wires
Screwdriver	Screws, self-tapping screws	Unscrewing (unscrewing), screwing (twisting) screws
Pliers (round nose pliers)	Wire, sheet metal strips	Bending of wire, sheet metal
Scissors	Wire, tin	Cutting wire and sheet metal
Jigsaw	Wood and materials from it	Cutting wood and wood-based materials
Hammer	Nails, wire, tin	Hammering nails, straightening, cutting wires, sheet metal
Wrench	Nuts, screws, bolts	Tightening and unscrewing nuts, bolts, screws

It is clear from the table that each tool has its own purpose. Therefore their classify by the type of technological operations they perform.

Each tool is designed to work with a specific structural material, or subject of labor... For example, scissors, which are designed for cutting paper, cannot be used for cutting metal, and a hammer for working with wood materials cannot be used for processing metal blanks, etc. That is, each tool must be used only for its intended purpose. Violation of this requirement leads to the failure of the tool and the impossibility of its further use.

The use of the tools of labor presented in Table 5 in production is ineffective. Instead of hand-held screwdrivers, scissors, drills, jigsaws, etc. for the most part use the corresponding electrified instruments you already know. This significantly increases labor productivity, quality of work and reduces the cost of physical efforts to perform work.

You will get acquainted in more detail with the work, structure and purpose of such tools in the future at the lessons of labor training.

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• essay on the topic first tool first machine

Modern schoolchildren, having got into the walls of the historical museum, usually laughingly go through the exposition, where the tools of the Stone Age are exhibited. They seem so primitive and simple that they don't even deserve special attention from the visitors of the exhibition. However, in fact, these Stone Age humans are vivid evidence of how he evolved from ape to Homo Sapiens. It is extremely interesting to trace this process, but historians and archaeologists can only direct the mind of the curious in the right direction. Indeed, at the moment, almost everything they know about the Stone Age is based on the study of these very simple tools of labor. 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 characteristic to a particular period of the Stone Age. The tools of labor of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic, scientists began to carefully study much later. And they were literally delighted with how skillfully primitive people dealt with stone, sticks and bone - the most accessible and widespread 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 we will definitely provide 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 studied. Some experts argue that this period does not have clear time boundaries, because official science 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 their acquaintance with more developed cultures. It is known that some tribes still process animal skins and carcasses with objects made of stone. Therefore, talk 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 the stone for their own purposes.

Studying the tools of the Stone Age, archaeologists often cannot determine their purpose. This can be done if you observe the 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.

Historians have divided the Stone Age into several rather large time periods: Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. In each, the tools of labor were gradually improved and became more and more skillful. Moreover, 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, while in the southern latitudes they needed completely different ones. Therefore, to create a complete picture, scientists need both finds. Only on the basis of the totality of all the tools of labor found, it is possible to form the most accurate idea of ​​the life of primitive people in ancient times.

Materials for the manufacture of tools

Naturally, in the Stone Age, stone was the main material for the manufacture of certain objects. Of its varieties, primitive people chose mainly flint and limestone slate. They made excellent cutting tools and weapons for hunting.

In a later period, people began to actively use basalt. He went to the tools intended for household 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, horns of animals and wood he killed. In various life situations, they turned out to be very useful and successfully replaced the stone.

If we focus on the sequence of the appearance of tools of labor of the Stone Age, then we can conclude that 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 of labor

The first tools of labor 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 more than one century, because it was rather difficult for a primitive man of the early Paleolithic era to understand that objects collected by chance could be useful to him.

Historians believe that hominids, in the process of evolution, were able to understand the vast possibilities of stones and sticks, found by chance, to protect themselves and their community. 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 a while, they realized that it is not so easy to find the right object in nature. Sometimes it was necessary to go around rather large territories in order to have a convenient and suitable stone for collecting in their hands. They began to store such items, gradually the collection was replenished with comfortable bones and branched sticks of the required length. All of them became a kind of preconditions for the first tools of labor of the ancient Stone Age.

Stone Age tools: the sequence of their origin

Among some groups of scientists, it is accepted to divide the tools of labor into the historical epochs to which they belong. However, it is possible to imagine the sequence of the emergence of tools of labor in a different way. Stone Age people gradually developed, so historians gave them different names. Over the long millennia, they have gone from Australopithecus to Cro-Magnon. Naturally, the tools of labor also changed during these periods. If you closely follow the development of the human individual, then in parallel you can understand how much the tools of labor have improved. Therefore, further we will talk about objects made by hand during the Paleolithic period:

• Australopithecus;
• 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.

Invention of tools

The emergence of the first objects designed to make life easier for primitive people date back to the time of the Australopithecus. These are considered the most ancient ancestors of modern man. It was they who learned how to collect the necessary stones and sticks, and then decided to try with their own hands to give the desired shape to the found object.

The Australopithecines were predominantly engaged in gathering. They constantly looked for edible roots in the forests and picked berries, and therefore were often attacked by wild animals. The stones that were found at random, as it turned out, helped to do the usual business more productively and even allowed them to protect 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 chopper.

This item was an oblong stone. On the one hand, it was thickened to fit more comfortably in the hand, and on the other the ancient man sharpened with the help of blows with another stone. It is worth noting that the creation of a chopper was a very laborious process. The stones were rather difficult to handle, and the movements of the Australopithecus were not very precise. Scientists believe that it took at least a hundred blows to create one chopper, and the weight of the tool often reached fifty kilograms.

With the help of a chopper, it was much more convenient to dig up roots from the ground and even kill wild animals with it. We can say that it was with the invention of the first instrument of labor that a new milestone began in the development of mankind as a species.

Despite the fact that the chopper was the most popular tool of the labor, the Australopithecines learned how to create scrapers and points. However, the scope of their application was the same - gathering.

Pithecanthropus tools

This species already belongs to the erectus and can pretend to be called a human. The tools of labor of people of the Stone Age of this period, unfortunately, are few. The finds related to the era of Pithecanthropus are very valuable for science, because each item found carries extensive information about the little-studied historical time interval.

Scientists believe that Pithecanthropus used basically the same tools as Australopithecines, but learned to handle them more skillfully. Stone choppers were still very common. Flakes were also used. They were made from bone by splitting into several parts, as a result, primitive man received a product with sharp and cutting edges. Some finds allow us to get an idea that the Pithecanthropus tried to make tools from wood as well. People and eoliths were actively used. This term was used to refer to stones found near water bodies, which by nature have sharp edges.

Neanderthals: new inventions

The tools of labor of the Stone Age (photo with a caption we have given 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 from that period were found in one of the caves in France, so scientists call all the tools of the Neanderthals 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 terms to them. To survive, they had to learn how to process animal skins and sew various clothes from them. Among the tools of labor, there were piercings, needles and awls. With their help, the skins could be connected with the tendons of animals. Such instruments were made from bone and most often by splitting the initial material into several plates.

In general, scientists divide the finds from that period into three large groups:

• ruby;
• scrapers;
• pointed points.

Rubilets resembled the first tools of labor of ancient people, but were much smaller. They were quite common and were used in various situations, for example, to strike.

The scrapers were great for butchering the carcasses of slaughtered 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.

Pointed points were often used as weapons. Neanderthals had sharp darts, spears and knives for various purposes. For all this, pointed points were needed.

The era of the Cro-Magnons

This type of person is characterized by high growth, a strong figure and a wide range of skills. Cro-Magnons successfully applied in practice all the inventions of their ancestors and came up with completely new tools.

During this period, stone tools were still extremely common, but gradually people began to appreciate other materials as well. They learned how to make various devices from animal tusks and their horns. The main activities were gathering and hunting. Therefore, all instruments of labor contributed to the facilitation of these types of labor. It is noteworthy that the Cro-Magnons learned how to fish, so archaeologists were able to find, in addition to the already known knives, blades, arrowheads and spearheads, harpoons and fish hooks made from animal tusks and bones.

Interestingly, the Cro-Magnons came up with the idea of ​​making dishes from clay and burning them in a fire. It is believed that the end of the Ice Age and the Paleolithic era, when the Cro-Magnon culture flourished, 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 ocean gradually increased, so people had to constantly adapt to unfamiliar conditions. They mastered new territories and sources of food. Naturally, all this affected the tools of labor, which became more perfect and comfortable.

During the Mesolithic era, archaeologists found microliths everywhere. This term should be understood as 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 has noticeably altered the stone tools of labor. They acquired a clear focus and began to be manufactured only for a particular industry. For example, stone plows were used to cultivate the land before planting plants, and they were harvested with special harvesting tools with cutting edges. Other tools made it possible to finely grind plants and prepare food from them.

It is noteworthy that in the Neolithic era, whole settlements were built of stone. Sometimes houses and all the objects inside them were completely carved out of stone. Such settlements were very common in the territory of modern Scotland.

In general, by the end of the Paleolithic era, man successfully mastered the technique of making tools from stone and other materials. This period became a solid foundation for the further development of human civilization. However, the ancient stones still hold many secrets that attract modern adventurers from all over the world.

The oldest tool of labor 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 of labor. Initially, when an ancient man needed something heavy and solid, he simply took any stone. It is impossible to reliably determine the period of use of such tools, since they practically do not differ from natural ones. A breakthrough in processing came when people realized that by chipping the edges of one stone with another, you can get a sharp edge that is convenient for cutting.

So the first choppers, pebble processing appeared. There are several signs of such tools of labor:

• convenient rounded butt without protrusions for a one-handed grip;
• the number of deliberate chips on the side opposite to the butt is small or insignificant. The chips themselves are large, uneven;
• the implements of this time are usually quite large, about the size of an ax.

The methods of processing ancient tools have improved over time. Plates or scales, the 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 archaeologists. retouched.

Retouching has undergone several changes in the process of 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 to the waste of many hours of work. However, even in this way, the ancient people managed to create a new type of tools - spikes... This type includes tools with two cutting edges, such as spearheads or knives.

Rice. 1 - Ancient tools

It should be clarified that the names of the tools are conditional, since they did not come down to us from antiquity, but were given by archaeologists who discovered them during excavations and suggested options for their use. Later it turned out that not all the names were given correctly. So, for example, the scraper was used not only for dressing animal skins, but also as a knife when cutting carcasses and as a tool for processing wood. Such versatility of use was largely due to two factors - on the one hand, the nomadic lifestyle obliged to carry all the tools with them, since it was rather 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 transportation methods had to cause enormous inconvenience.

The emergence of such methods of processing tools as wring-out and counterstrike retouching made it possible for a finer finish. With this method, flakes were removed by pinpoint pressure with a stick or bone on the edge of the processed plate. After such processing, the tools look rough, with numerous grooves. This method was more accurate and made it possible to make 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 who lived far from the source of quality material had to make long journeys to them and procure prismatic cores(Fig. 2) - special blanks from which flakes were later made.

Rice. 2 - Nuclei and obtaining flakes

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

Ancient tools were made of bone - awls and needles, which practically did not differ from modern ones, except for the absence of an ear in them. Further improvement in the processing of tools made it possible to apply various ornaments and patterns to the surface of tools. Such decoration of the tools spoke of their importance: a well-made knife in ancient times could be passed on from generation to generation.