The Earliest Technology

The earliest known human artifacts are roughly flaked stones used for chopping and
scraping, found primarily in eastern Africa. Known as Oldoman tools, they date from
about 2.3 million years before present, and serve to define the beginning of the
Stone Age. The first toolmakers were nomadic groups of people who used the sharp
edges of stone to process food. By about 40,000 years before present, humans had
begun to use fire and to make a variety of tools, including pear-shaped axes, scrapers,
knives, and other instruments of stone, bone, and other materials. They had also
begun to use tools to make clothing and build shelters for protection from inclement
weather. The use of tools can be observed in many members of the animal kingdom, but
the capacity for creating tools to craft other objects distinguishes humans from all
other animals.

                      The next big step in the history of technology was the control
of fire. By striking flint against pyrites to produce sparks, people could kindle fires
at will, thereby freeing themselves from the necessity of perpetuating fires obtained
from natural sources. Besides the obvious benefits of light and heat, fire was also
used to bake clay pots, producing heat-resistant vessels that were then used for cooking
grains and for brewing and fermenting. Fired pottery later provided the crucibles in which
metals could be refined.