It is known that hallmark ape A representative of the human race has brain mass, namely 750 g. This is how much is necessary for a child to master speech. Ancient people spoke in a primitive language, but their speech is a qualitative difference between the higher nervous activity of humans and the instinctive behavior of animals. The word, which became a designation for actions, labor operations, objects, and subsequently general concepts, acquired the status of the most important means of communication.

Stages of human development

It is known that there are three of them, namely:

• the oldest representatives of the human race;
• modern generation.

This article is devoted exclusively to the 2nd of the above stages.

History of Ancient Man

About 200 thousand years ago, the people we call Neanderthals appeared. They occupied an intermediate position between representatives of the most ancient family and the first modern man. Ancient people were a very heterogeneous group. Study large number skeletons allowed us to conclude that, in the process of evolution of Neanderthals, against the background of structural diversity, 2 lines were determined. The first was focused on powerful physiological development. Visually, the most ancient people were distinguished by a low, strongly sloping forehead, a low back of the head, a poorly developed chin, a continuous supraorbital ridge, and large teeth. They had very powerful muscles, despite the fact that their height was no more than 165 cm. The mass of their brain had already reached 1500 g. Presumably, ancient people used rudimentary articulate speech.

The second line of Neanderthals had more refined features. They had significantly smaller brow ridges, a more developed chin protuberance, and thin jaws. We can say that the second group was significantly inferior in physical development first. However, they already showed a significant increase in the volume of the frontal lobes of the brain.

The second group of Neanderthals fought for their existence through the development of intra-group connections in the process of hunting, protection from an aggressive natural environment, enemies, in other words, by combining the forces of individual individuals, and not through the development of muscles, like the first.

As a result of this evolutionary path, the species Homo sapiens appeared, which translates as “Homo sapiens” (40-50 thousand years ago).

It is known that for a short period of time life ancient man and the first modern was closely interconnected. Subsequently, the Neanderthals were finally supplanted by the Cro-Magnons (the first modern people).

Types of ancient people

Due to the vastness and heterogeneity of the group of hominids, it is customary to distinguish the following varieties of Neanderthals:

• ancient (early representatives who lived 130-70 thousand years ago);
• classical (European forms, the period of their existence 70-40 thousand years ago);
• survivalists (lived 45 thousand years ago).

Neanderthals: daily life, activities

Fire played an important role. For many hundreds of thousands of years, man did not know how to make fire himself, which is why people supported the one that was formed due to a lightning strike or a volcanic eruption. Moving from place to place, the fire was carried in special “cages” by the most strong people. If it was not possible to save the fire, then this quite often led to the death of the entire tribe, since they were deprived of a means of heating in the cold, a means of protection from predatory animals.

Subsequently, they began to use it for cooking food, which turned out to be more tasty and nutritious, which ultimately contributed to the development of their brain. Later, people themselves learned to make fire by cutting sparks from stone into dry grass, quickly rotating a wooden stick in their palms, placing one end in a hole in dry wood. It was this event that became one of the most important achievements of man. It coincided in time with the era of great migrations.

The daily life of ancient man boiled down to the fact that the entire primitive tribe hunted. For this purpose, men were engaged in the manufacture of weapons and stone tools: chisels, knives, scrapers, awls. Mostly males hunted and butchered the carcasses of killed animals, that is, all the hard work fell on them.

Female representatives processed skins and collected (fruits, edible tubers, roots, and branches for fire). This led to the emergence of a natural division of labor by gender.

To drive large animal, the men hunted together. This required mutual understanding between primitive people. During the hunt, a driving technique was common: the steppe was set on fire, then the Neanderthals drove a herd of deer and horses into a trap - a swamp, an abyss. Next, all they had to do was finish off the animals. There was another technique: they shouted and made noise to drive the animals onto thin ice.

We can say that the life of ancient man was primitive. However, it was the Neanderthals who were the first to bury their dead relatives, laying them on their right side, placing a stone under their head and bending their legs. Food and weapons were left next to the body. Presumably they considered death to be a dream. Burials and parts of sanctuaries, for example, associated with the bear cult, became evidence of the emergence of religion.

Neanderthal tools

They differed slightly from those used by their predecessors. However, over time, the tools of ancient people became more complex. The newly formed complex gave rise to the so-called Mousterian era. As before, tools were made primarily of stone, but their shapes became more diverse, and the turning technique became more complex.

The main weapon preparation is a flake formed as a result of chipping from a core (a piece of flint that has special platforms from which the chipping was carried out). This era was characterized by approximately 60 types of weapons. All of them are variations of 3 main ones: scraper, rubeltsa, pointed tip.

The first is used in the process of butchering an animal carcass, processing wood, and tanning hides. The second is a smaller version of the hand axes of the previously existing Pithecanthropus (they were 15-20 cm in length). Their new modifications had a length of 5-8 cm. The third weapon had a triangular outline and a point at the end. They were used as knives for cutting leather, meat, wood, and also as daggers and dart and spear tips.

In addition to the listed species, Neanderthals also had the following: scrapers, incisors, piercings, notched, and serrated tools.

Bone also served as the basis for their manufacture. Very few fragments of such specimens have survived to this day, and entire tools can be seen even less frequently. Most often these were primitive awls, spatulas, and points.

The tools differed depending on the types of animals that Neanderthals hunted, and, consequently, on the geographical region and climate. Obviously, African tools were different from European ones.

Climate of the area where Neanderthals lived

The Neanderthals were less fortunate with this. They found a strong cold snap and the formation of glaciers. Neanderthals, unlike Pithecanthropus, who lived in an area similar to the African savanna, lived rather in the tundra and forest-steppe.

It is known that the first ancient man, just like his ancestors, mastered caves - shallow grottoes, small sheds. Subsequently, buildings appeared located in open space (the remains of a dwelling made from the bones and teeth of a mammoth were found at a site on the Dniester).

Hunting of ancient people

Neanderthals mainly hunted mammoths. He did not live to this day, but everyone knows what this beast looks like, since rock paintings with its image were found, painted by people of the Late Paleolithic. In addition, archaeologists have found the remains (sometimes even the entire skeleton or carcasses in permafrost soil) of mammoths in Siberia and Alaska.

To catch such a large beast, the Neanderthals had to work hard. They dug pit traps or drove the mammoth into a swamp so that it would get stuck in it, then finish it off.

Also a game animal was the cave bear (it is 1.5 times larger than our brown one). If a large male rose on his hind legs, then he reached 2.5 m in height.

Neanderthals also hunted bison, bison, reindeer, and horses. From them it was possible to obtain not only the meat itself, but also bones, fat, and skin.

Methods of making fire by Neanderthals

There are only five of them, namely:

1. Fire plow. This is enough quick way, however, it requires significant physical effort. The idea is to move a wooden stick along the board with a strong pressure. The result is shavings, wood powder, which, due to the friction of wood against wood, heats up and smolders. At this point, it is combined with highly flammable tinder, then the fire is fanned.

2. Fire drill. The most common way. A fire drill is a wooden stick that is used to drill into another stick (a wooden plank) located on the ground. As a result, smoldering (smoking) powder appears in the hole. Next, it is poured onto the tinder, and then the flame is fanned. Neanderthals first rotated the drill between their palms, and later the drill (with its upper end) was pressed into the tree, covered with a belt and pulled alternately on each end of the belt, rotating it.

3. Fire pump. This is a fairly modern, but rarely used method.

4. Fire saw. It is similar to the first method, but the difference is that the wooden plank is sawed (scraped) across the fibers, and not along them. The result is the same.

5. Carving fire. This can be done by hitting one stone against another. As a result, sparks are formed that fall on the tinder, subsequently igniting it.

Finds from the Skhul and Jebel Qafzeh caves

The first is located near Haifa, the second is in the south of Israel. They are both located in the Middle East. These caves are famous for the fact that the remains of people (bones) were found in them, which were closer to modern people than to the ancients. Unfortunately, they belonged to only two individuals. The age of the finds is 90-100 thousand years. In this regard, we can say that a person modern look coexisted with Neanderthals for many millennia.

Conclusion

The world of ancient people is very interesting and has not yet been fully studied. Perhaps, over time, new secrets will be revealed to us that will allow us to look at it from a different point of view.

Historians have determined the time of the appearance of the first man on Earth - this happened about 2.5 million years ago: then he was still covered with hair and did not have his own tongue. He is called “homo habilis” or australopithecus. About one and a half million years ago, he was replaced by “skillful man” - more developed and with the rudiments of culture.

How ancient people lived: everyday life

It was impossible to survive alone in harsh conditions, so people united in communities where they engaged in collective labor. They had common tools, and the spoils were also divided among all members of the community. Thanks to this device, it became possible to transfer knowledge from generation to generation: older members of the community taught the younger ones the necessary skills if there was an opportunity to new information, it was added to what was already known - this is how it accumulated.

Tools and fire

The tools of labor of ancient people were quite primitive: the main tools were made of stone, which was then used to process wood and bone. From stones, breaking off pieces of the desired shape and size, primitive people made scrapers, choppers and spears, which replaced just a sharpened stick. The dishes were mainly hollowed out from wood or animal bones. Later, man learned to weave baskets and nets for catching fish. While excavating sites of ancient people, archaeologists obtained a lot of important finds, from which these facts were reconstructed.

At that time, people already used fire, but still could not make it, so the fires were carefully preserved.

Rice. 1. Ancient man makes fire.

Hunting and gathering

Labor already at this stage was divided into women's and men's. The weaker ones, women, were engaged in gathering, looking for herbs, roots and berries in the forest, as well as bird eggs, larvae, snails, etc. Men went hunting. How did ancient people hunt?

They not only used raids, but also dug traps and made traps.

Both hunting and gathering are appropriative forms of economy that forced tribes to a nomadic way of life: having devastated one area, they moved to another. When the bow and arrows appeared, more food began to be obtained, and devastation occurred faster. In addition, the parking lots had to be located close to the water, and this complicated the search for a new place. Thus, conditions forced people to move from an appropriating form to a producing one.

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Rice. 2. Primitive hunter.

Agriculture and cattle breeding

First, people began to domesticate animals, and they were the first to domesticate the dog, which later helped herd herds and hunt, and also guarded the house. Then pigs, goats and sheep were domesticated. Having mastered the skills of breeding them, the ancient man was able to have a large cattle. The herds were also communal.

The horse was the last to be domesticated - this happened around the 4th century BC. e. The very first, according to archaeological evidence, were the tribes living in the western part of the Eurasian steppes.

Women did farming. The planting process looked like this: the earth was loosened with a digging stick, where the seeds of local plants were thrown useful plants. Later, this primitive tool was replaced by a shovel, which was made from wood using a stone scraper, then it was replaced by a hoe: a stick with a branch, and then a stick with a sharp stone tied to it.

The emergence of Neanderthals

This type of human appeared about 200 thousand years ago. By this time, man had already learned to make fire, his life became more ritualized. Due to the offensive ice age people began to live in caves, they developed crafts, for example, tanning skins from which they made fur coats. During the same period, art was born: drawings made by hand primitive man, while they were very primitive - just stripes and lines, but soon images of animals also appeared. Neanderthals did not have such a developed form of communication as writing.

Rice. 3. Neanderthal.

Neanderthals went extinct 30 thousand years ago, and the reason for this is still not known. The main version is displacement by more developed Cro-Magnons, “reasonable people.”

What have we learned?

From an article on the topic “Ancient people” (grade 5) we learned that, according to archaeologists, the most ancient people, according to the history of their origin, went through four stages of development from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens. They had primitive tools and weapons, they were engaged first in appropriating and then in producing forms of activity, and they lived in communities.

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Niramin - Aug 2nd, 2016

Primitive people at first differed little from animals, but over the centuries they gradually began to develop the inclinations of thinking and ingenuity. Scientists have proven that it was labor and the use of improvised objects as the first tools that gave impetus to the emergence of skilled man.

The first objects that made the existence of primitive people easier were sticks and sharp stones. Stones with pointed ends found on the shores of reservoirs were used as knives when cutting up the carcasses of killed animals. Since such finds were infrequent, primitive man began to learn to make them himself, hitting stones against each other and gradually breaking off pieces until one side was sharp enough. Scientists called this process the chopping technique, and the resulting tools were called choppers.

Later, a spear was invented to help tribes obtain fish and animal meat; they learned to attach a sharpened stone to a long stick. The next discovery - a stone ax - greatly facilitated the process of building a home. Each new tool was, as it were, a basis for the creation of the next, more advanced one. Devices for digging earth were also first made of wood or stone, until primitive people learned to use objects made of bones, horns and tusks of animals in everyday life.

It is noteworthy that on different continents the discovery of new tools occurred at approximately the same era.

An ancient man makes stone tools.

Video: Technology of primitive society (Russian)

Video: Archaeologists discover a prehistoric factory | Archaeologists have found prehistoric plant

It is known that the distinguishing feature of the ape from the representative of the human race is the mass of the brain, namely 750 g. This is how much is necessary for a child to master speech. Ancient people spoke in a primitive language, but their speech is a qualitative difference between the higher nervous activity of humans and the instinctive behavior of animals. The word, which became a designation for actions, labor operations, objects, and subsequently general concepts, acquired the status of the most important means of communication.

Stages of human development

It is known that there are three of them, namely:

• the oldest representatives of the human race;
• modern generation.

This article is devoted exclusively to the 2nd of the above stages.

History of Ancient Man

About 200 thousand years ago, the people we call Neanderthals appeared. They occupied an intermediate position between representatives of the most ancient family and the first modern man. Ancient people were a very heterogeneous group. A study of a large number of skeletons led to the conclusion that, in the process of the evolution of Neanderthals against the background of structural diversity, 2 lines were determined. The first was focused on powerful physiological development. Visually, the most ancient people were distinguished by a low, strongly sloping forehead, a low back of the head, a poorly developed chin, a continuous supraorbital ridge, and large teeth. They had very powerful muscles, despite the fact that their height was no more than 165 cm. The mass of their brain had already reached 1500 g. Presumably, ancient people used rudimentary articulate speech.

The second line of Neanderthals had more refined features. They had significantly smaller brow ridges, a more developed chin protuberance, and thin jaws. We can say that the second group was significantly inferior in physical development to the first. However, they already showed a significant increase in the volume of the frontal lobes of the brain.

The second group of Neanderthals fought for their existence through the development of intra-group connections in the process of hunting, protection from an aggressive natural environment, enemies, in other words, by combining the forces of individual individuals, and not through the development of muscles, like the first.

As a result of this evolutionary path, the species Homo sapiens appeared, which translates as “Homo sapiens” (40-50 thousand years ago).

It is known that for a short period of time the life of ancient man and the first modern man was closely interconnected. Subsequently, the Neanderthals were finally supplanted by the Cro-Magnons (the first modern people).

Types of ancient people

Due to the vastness and heterogeneity of the group of hominids, it is customary to distinguish the following varieties of Neanderthals:

• ancient (early representatives who lived 130-70 thousand years ago);
• classical (European forms, the period of their existence 70-40 thousand years ago);
• survivalists (lived 45 thousand years ago).

Neanderthals: daily life, activities

Fire played an important role. For many hundreds of thousands of years, man did not know how to make fire himself, which is why people supported the one that was formed due to a lightning strike or a volcanic eruption. Moving from place to place, the fire was carried in special “cages” by the strongest people. If it was not possible to save the fire, then this quite often led to the death of the entire tribe, since they were deprived of a means of heating in the cold, a means of protection from predatory animals.

Subsequently, they began to use it for cooking food, which turned out to be more tasty and nutritious, which ultimately contributed to the development of their brain. Later, people themselves learned to make fire by cutting sparks from stone into dry grass, quickly rotating a wooden stick in their palms, placing one end in a hole in dry wood. It was this event that became one of the most important achievements of man. It coincided in time with the era of great migrations.

The daily life of ancient man boiled down to the fact that the entire primitive tribe hunted. For this purpose, men were engaged in the manufacture of weapons and stone tools: chisels, knives, scrapers, awls. Mostly males hunted and butchered the carcasses of killed animals, that is, all the hard work fell on them.

Female representatives processed skins and collected (fruits, edible tubers, roots, and branches for fire). This led to the emergence of a natural division of labor by gender.

To catch large animals, men hunted together. This required mutual understanding between primitive people. During the hunt, a driving technique was common: the steppe was set on fire, then the Neanderthals drove a herd of deer and horses into a trap - a swamp, an abyss. Next, all they had to do was finish off the animals. There was another technique: they shouted and made noise to drive the animals onto thin ice.

We can say that the life of ancient man was primitive. However, it was the Neanderthals who were the first to bury their dead relatives, laying them on their right side, placing a stone under their head and bending their legs. Food and weapons were left next to the body. Presumably they considered death to be a dream. Burials and parts of sanctuaries, for example, associated with the bear cult, became evidence of the emergence of religion.

Neanderthal tools

They differed slightly from those used by their predecessors. However, over time, the tools of ancient people became more complex. The newly formed complex gave rise to the so-called Mousterian era. As before, tools were made primarily of stone, but their shapes became more diverse, and the turning technique became more complex.

The main weapon preparation is a flake formed as a result of chipping from a core (a piece of flint that has special platforms from which the chipping was carried out). This era was characterized by approximately 60 types of weapons. All of them are variations of 3 main ones: scraper, rubeltsa, pointed tip.

The first is used in the process of butchering an animal carcass, processing wood, and tanning hides. The second is a smaller version of the hand axes of the previously existing Pithecanthropus (they were 15-20 cm in length). Their new modifications had a length of 5-8 cm. The third weapon had a triangular outline and a point at the end. They were used as knives for cutting leather, meat, wood, and also as daggers and dart and spear tips.

In addition to the listed species, Neanderthals also had the following: scrapers, incisors, piercings, notched, and serrated tools.

Bone also served as the basis for their manufacture. Very few fragments of such specimens have survived to this day, and entire tools can be seen even less frequently. Most often these were primitive awls, spatulas, and points.

The tools differed depending on the types of animals that Neanderthals hunted, and, consequently, on the geographical region and climate. Obviously, African tools were different from European ones.

Climate of the area where Neanderthals lived

The Neanderthals were less fortunate with this. They found a strong cold snap and the formation of glaciers. Neanderthals, unlike Pithecanthropus, who lived in an area similar to the African savanna, lived rather in the tundra and forest-steppe.

It is known that the first ancient man, just like his ancestors, mastered caves - shallow grottoes, small sheds. Subsequently, buildings appeared located in open space (the remains of a dwelling made from the bones and teeth of a mammoth were found at a site on the Dniester).

Hunting of ancient people

Neanderthals mainly hunted mammoths. He did not live to this day, but everyone knows what this beast looks like, since rock paintings with its image were found, painted by people of the Late Paleolithic. In addition, archaeologists have found the remains (sometimes even the entire skeleton or carcasses in permafrost soil) of mammoths in Siberia and Alaska.

To catch such a large beast, the Neanderthals had to work hard. They dug pit traps or drove the mammoth into a swamp so that it would get stuck in it, then finish it off.

Also a game animal was the cave bear (it is 1.5 times larger than our brown one). If a large male rose on his hind legs, then he reached 2.5 m in height.

Neanderthals also hunted bison, bison, reindeer, and horses. From them it was possible to obtain not only the meat itself, but also bones, fat, and skin.

Methods of making fire by Neanderthals

There are only five of them, namely:

1. Fire plow. This is a fairly fast method, but requires significant physical effort. The idea is to move a wooden stick along the board with a strong pressure. The result is shavings, wood powder, which, due to the friction of wood against wood, heats up and smolders. At this point, it is combined with highly flammable tinder, then the fire is fanned.

2. Fire drill. The most common way. A fire drill is a wooden stick that is used to drill into another stick (a wooden plank) located on the ground. As a result, smoldering (smoking) powder appears in the hole. Next, it is poured onto the tinder, and then the flame is fanned. Neanderthals first rotated the drill between their palms, and later the drill (with its upper end) was pressed into the tree, covered with a belt and pulled alternately on each end of the belt, rotating it.

3. Fire pump. This is a fairly modern, but rarely used method.

4. Fire saw. It is similar to the first method, but the difference is that the wooden plank is sawed (scraped) across the fibers, and not along them. The result is the same.

5. Carving fire. This can be done by hitting one stone against another. As a result, sparks are formed that fall on the tinder, subsequently igniting it.

Finds from the Skhul and Jebel Qafzeh caves

The first is located near Haifa, the second is in the south of Israel. They are both located in the Middle East. These caves are famous for the fact that human remains (skeletal remains) were found in them, which were closer to modern people than to the ancients. Unfortunately, they belonged to only two individuals. The age of the finds is 90-100 thousand years. In this regard, we can say that modern humans coexisted with Neanderthals for many millennia.

Conclusion

The world of ancient people is very interesting and has not yet been fully studied. Perhaps, over time, new secrets will be revealed to us that will allow us to look at it from a different point of view.

Modern schoolchildren, once inside the walls of a historical museum, usually laugh as they go through the exhibition where Stone Age tools are displayed. They seem so primitive and simple that they don’t even deserve special attention from visitors to the exhibition. However, in fact, these Stone Age humans are clear evidence of how he evolved from apes to Homo sapiens. It is extremely interesting to trace this process, but historians and archaeologists can only direct the minds of the curious in the right direction. Indeed, at the moment, almost everything that they know about the Stone Age is based on the study of these very simple tools. But the development of primitive people was actively influenced by society, religious ideas and climate. Unfortunately, archaeologists of past centuries did not take these factors into account at all when characterizing this or that period of the Stone Age. Scientists began to carefully study the tools of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic much later. And they were literally delighted with how skillfully primitive people handled 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 photos with the names of Stone Age tools, which are most often found in historical museums of our country.

Brief characteristics of the Stone Age

Currently, scientists believe that stone Age can be safely attributed to the most important cultural and historical layer, which is still quite 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 about the fact that the tools of the Stone Age people are the distant past of mankind is premature.

Based on official data, we can say that the Stone Age began approximately three million years ago from the moment when the first hominid living in Africa thought of using stone for its own purposes.

When studying Stone Age tools, archaeologists often cannot determine their purpose. This can be done by observing tribes that have a similar level of development to 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 fairly large time periods: Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. In each, the tools gradually improved and became more and more skillful. At the same time, their purpose also changed over time. It is noteworthy that archaeologists distinguish Stone Age tools by the place where they were found. In the northern regions, people needed certain items, and in the southern latitudes - completely different ones. Therefore, to create a complete picture, scientists need both types of findings. Only from the totality of all the tools found can one get the most accurate idea of ​​the life of primitive people in ancient times.

Materials for making tools

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

In a later period, people began to actively use basalt. It was used for 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 production of tools from bone, the horns of animals he killed, and wood. In different life situations they turned out to be very useful and successfully replaced the stone.

If we focus on the sequence of appearance of Stone Age tools, 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

The first tools of the Stone Age, the sequence of which is so important for the world scientific community, were the result of accumulated knowledge and experience. This process lasted for centuries, because it was quite difficult for primitive man of the Early Paleolithic era to understand that objects collected by chance could be useful to him.

Historians believe that hominids, through the process of evolution, were able to understand the vast possibilities of stones and sticks, found by chance, to protect themselves and their communities. This made it easier to drive away wild animals and get roots. Therefore, primitive people began to pick up stones and throw them away after use.

However, after some time they realized that it was not so easy to find the desired object in nature. Sometimes it was necessary to go around fairly large areas in order to find a convenient stone suitable for collecting in one’s hands. Such items began to be stored, and gradually the collection was replenished with convenient bones and branched sticks of the required length. All of them became peculiar prerequisites for the first tools of labor of the ancient Stone Age.

Stone Age tools: the sequence of their appearance

Among some groups of scientists, it is common to divide labor tools into the historical eras to which they belong. However, it is possible to imagine the sequence of the emergence of labor tools in a different way. Stone Age people gradually developed, so historians gave them different names. Over many millennia, they went from Australopithecus to Cro-Magnon man. Naturally, the tools of labor also changed during these periods. If you carefully trace 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 used in the Stone Age, then the following sections of the article will reveal this secret for you.

Invention of tools

The appearance of the first objects designed to make life easier for primitive people dates back to the time of Australopithecus. These are considered the most ancient ancestors modern man. They were the ones who learned how to collect the necessary stones and sticks, and then decided to try to shape it with their own hands. the required form found item.

Australopithecus was primarily a gatherer. They constantly searched the forests for edible roots and picked berries, and therefore were often attacked by wild animals. Stones found at random, as it turned out, helped people do their usual activities more productively and even allowed them to protect themselves from animals. Therefore, ancient man attempted to transform an unsuitable stone into something useful with a few blows. After a series of titanic efforts, the first tool of labor was born - a chopper.

This item was an oblong stone. On one side it was thickened to fit more comfortably in the hand, and the other was sharpened by the ancient man by striking with another stone. It is worth noting that creating the handaxe was a very labor-intensive process. The stones were quite difficult to process, and the movements of the australopithecus were not very accurate. Scientists believe that to create one handaxe it took at least a hundred blows, and the weight of the tool often reached fifty kilograms.

With the help of a chopper it was much easier to dig up roots from under the ground and even kill wild animals with it. We can say that it was with the invention of the first tool that a new milestone began in the development of humanity as a species.

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

Tools of Pithecanthropus

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

Scientists believe that Pithecanthropus used basically the same tools as Australopithecus, but learned to process them more skillfully. Stone axes 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 the idea that Pithecanthropus tried to make tools from wood. People also actively used eoliths. This term was used to describe stones found near bodies of water that had naturally sharp edges.

Neanderthals: new inventions

Stone Age tools (photos with captions in this section), made by Neanderthals, are distinguished by their lightness and new forms. Gradually, people began to choose the most convenient shapes and sizes, which significantly facilitated hard daily work.

Most of the finds from that period were discovered 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 conditions to them. To survive, they had to learn how to process animal skins and sew various clothes from them. Among the tools of labor appeared piercings, needles and awls. With their help, skins could be joined together with animal tendons. Such instruments were made from bone and most often by splitting the original material into several plates.

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

• Rubiltsa;
• scraper;
• pointed points.

Rubeltsa resembled the first tools of ancient man, but were much smaller in size. They were quite common and were used in various situations, for example, for striking.

Scrapers were excellent for cutting up the carcasses of killed animals. Neanderthals skillfully separated the skin from the meat, which was then divided into small pieces. Using 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.

Age of Cro-Magnons

This type of person is characterized by tall stature, a strong figure and a wide range of skills. The Cro-Magnons successfully put into 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. They learned to make various devices from animal tusks and their horns. The main activities were gathering and hunting. Therefore, all tools contributed to facilitating these types of labor. It is noteworthy that the Cro-Magnons learned to fish, so archaeologists were able to find, in addition to the already known knives, blades, arrowheads and spears, harpoons and fishing hooks made from animal tusks and bones.

Interestingly, the Cro-Magnons came up with the idea of ​​making dishes from clay and firing them in fire. It is believed that the end of the Ice Age and the Paleolithic era, which marked the heyday of the Cro-Magnon culture, was marked by significant changes in the life of primitive people.

Mesolithic

Scientists date this period from the tenth to the sixth millennium BC. During the Mesolithic, the world's oceans gradually rose, so people had to constantly adapt to unfamiliar conditions. They explored new territories and sources of food. Naturally, all this affected the tools of labor, which became more advanced and convenient.

During the Mesolithic era, archaeologists found microliths everywhere. This term must be understood as tools made of stone small size. They significantly 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 domesticate wild animals. For example, dogs became 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 skills. Such a sharp leap in human development noticeably modified stone tools. 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, and the crops were harvested with special harvesting tools with cutting edges. Other tools made it possible to finely chop plants and prepare food from them.

It is noteworthy that during the Neolithic era entire settlements were built from stone. Sometimes houses and all objects inside them were entirely carved from stone. Such villages were very common in the territory of modern Scotland.

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