Paleolithic Tool Technology
Introduction
The earliest rock tools crafted by early hominins began during the Lower Paleolithic
period and day of the month to at least 2.5 million old ages ago. The sites that include the richest supply and
grounds for the development of these early tools are at Gona and Hadar, Ethiopia and Lokalalei,
Kenya. There are two major tool industries that characterize the Lower Paleolithic period: the
Oldowan and the Acheulian. The Oldowan industry is based off the flakes and nucleuss discovered
at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, East Africa, and the Acheulian industry has been defined for the
polishs made to these flakes and nucleuss that transformed into bifaces, which functioned as
handaxes and cliverss.
The development of tool engineering from the Lower Paleolithic period in Africa began to
switch four hundred thousand old ages ago during the Middle Paleolithic period as Neandertal mans
emerged onto the scene. The rock tools present during this period can be characterized as being
finely refined flakes into a fluctuation of toolkits utilizing an attack known as prepared-core
engineering. Further invention of rock tools occurred during the Upper Paleolithic period in
Europe, where an drawn-out scope of diverse tools were crafted by modern worlds from rock in
add-on to cram engineering. These tools took on the form of blades that were twice every bit long as
they were broad, leting them to be mounted to wooden helves that could be used as hunting
arms.
It is good known that the development of Paleolithic tool engineering developed over clip
at the same time with early worlds as these persons adapted to their several environment.
The pattern of presenting crisp blows to individual stones to craft pointed flakes was refined and
perfected over clip through a series of inventions utilizing the same technique known as knapping.
( Chazan, 2012, p. 73 ) This study will research each tool industry highlighted above in farther
item and analyze the major polishs in tool engineering that took topographic point from the Lower
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Paleolithic period in Africa to the Upper Paleolithic period in Europe.
Oldowan Industry
The Oldowan industry was the first theater of rock tool production by early hominin
species during the Lower Paleolithic period, or early Stone Age. Archaeological grounds
discovered at Olduvai Gorge, East Africa dating to between 1.9 to 1.15 million old ages ago
suggests that stone tools being used during this clip functioned dominantly as scavenging tools
to cut tegument and meat and interruption castanetss in order to uncover marrow. There is presently no convincing
grounds which indicates that early hominins practiced runing with this toolkit. The
fabrication manner for these types of rock tools was raping, a technique that involves the
precise percussion of stones to interrupt off smaller pieces into flakes. ( Chazan, p. 73 )
The Oldowan tool industry consists of basic nucleus and flake engineering that were refined
utilizing difficult and soft cocks. Difficult cocks were regular pieces of rock that were struck
against nucleuss like a cock for determining. Soft cocks were made up of pieces of wood and
bone that allowed flakes to be shaped into farther item and sharpened. The significance of this
early usage of hammerstone is its edification to make crisp borders to be used as a agency for
scavenging carnal carcases and bring forthing nutrient. This is apparent in the grassland Savannah
environment for which these hominins were populating. It can be argued that the distribution of these
tools was widespread amongst this species, particularly within groups. Archaeological grounds
discovered in Olduvai Gorge suggests that this species may hold built cardinal base cantonments or
huts, which proposes the thought that these persons retrieved rock and brought it back for
polish. It is presently ill-defined as to what hominin species in peculiar created these rock
tools. However, the archeological record holds the strong possibility that it was one of the first
species considered to be of the genus gay, known severally asgay habilisandgay
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erectus. ( Chazan, p. 66-67 )
The Acheulian and Chopper Tool Traditions
For about one million old ages, hominin species continued to craft the flakes and nucleuss that
qualify Oldowan industry rock tools. The gradual passage from the traditional Oldowan
percussion technique of raping flakes and nucleuss was well improved 1.7 million old ages
ago whengay erectusforemost made an visual aspect with carefully refined bifaces that represent the
Acheulian and Chopper rock tool industries. These industries introduced the handaxe, a rock
tool renowned for being the earliest grounds of design by an early gay species. ( Chazan, P.
72 ) These bifaces can be categorized by design as being handaxes or cliverss. The
features that entail handaxes are pointed, comparatively crisp terminals on one side and rough
egg-shaped forms on the other. Smaller flakes are removed from the tool utilizing soft cocks, doing it
smoother along the borders and far less harsh on the sides. The chopper is strikingly similar in its
design, but different in visual aspect demoing a really wide, broad border instead than that of the crisp
handaxe.
The handaxe and chopper tools propose interesting inquiries sing their true usage and
map. It can be inferred that like their predecessors, the handaxe and cleaver rock tools were
used for scavenging and slaughtering carnal carcases. Furthermore, the multi-purpose design of
these tools allowed the user to execute an array of undertakings that may hold involved delving up
workss and burying nutrient, chopping wood, and clambering carnal fells. There is really lose grounds
in the archeological record that suggests that these tools functioned as runing arms or
missiles. It is appropriate to advert that early hominins continued to craft and utilize these rock
tools for over one million old ages, and it has been presented in archeology that the handaxe may
be the most of import invention that early worlds of all time introduced to the universe. ( Chazan, p. 72 )
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Additionally, grounds suggests that the distribution of Acheulian industry rock tools extended
to the Middle East and subdivisions of Europe and East Asia over a span between 1.7 million old ages
ago to 200,000 old ages ago.
The Mousterian and Middle Stone Age
Jumping frontward in clip, the human species known as the Neanderthals began to
dwell the Western parts of Earth in Europe from 130,000 to 30,000 old ages ago. Modern
worlds, a species arguably modern-day with Neanderthals besides populated East Africa and
many parts of Europe, nevertheless are non considered to be a portion of the same archeological
context as Neanderthals. The rock toolkit nowadays during the Middle Paleolithic period is
well different from the Oldowan and Acheulian industries discussed supra. For
illustration, the Neandertal mans exchanged the industry of handaxes for the precise polish of
flakes utilizing a technique called retouching. This allowed the single carving the flake to
command its form and modify it for a specific usage. Retouching provided Neandertal mans with the
ability to sharpen, thin, and unbend their tools to carry through several undertakings including hunting,
doing fires and burying their dead. ( Chazan, p. 105 ) Another indispensable feature of the
Mousterian industry is a prepared-core engineering known as the Levallois technique, which
involves fixing one side of a nucleus to be struck into a flake of a coveted form. This method of
rock knapping is regarded as being extremely sophisticated because of the careful organisation,
design, and planning of the percussion procedure.
An of import factor sing the Middle Stone Age is that Neandertal mans are the first
known species to attach their rock tools to wooden lances, therefore making a hunting arm. This
is a major leap forward in Paleolithic tool engineering within the expansive strategy of homo
development. Archaeological grounds points toward the usage of spear engineering in parts of Europe
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and the Middle East, although existent remains are highly limited. ( Chazan, p.111 ) American
Archaeologist Lewis Binford challenged many claims sing the usage of Neanderthal rock
tools, to boot oppugning if the persons who crafted them were active huntsmans in truth.
The Upper Paleolithic in Europe
The Upper Paleolithic is the last phase in the Paleolithic prehistoric period and can be
loosely dated to 40,000 to 11,000 old ages ago. This phase is characterized by an immensely diverse
aggregation of rock and bone tools. There are five major tool industries that represent this
diverseness sing the Upper Paleolithic: the Chatelperronian, Aurignacian, Gravettian,
Solutrean, and Magdalenian. Each industry has been dated within the span of 40,000 to 11,000
old ages ago and contains alone pieces of rock and bone artefacts which make up the Upper
Paleolithic tool gathering. The dominant feature of this period is the debut of
blade engineering, which are flakes that are twice every bit long as they are broad in the signifier of
bladelets, endscrapers and burins. ( Chazan, p. 137 ) An interesting facet of the Upper Paleolithic
tool gathering is the usage of refined bladelets as hunting missiles. In add-on to the usage of
lances as runing arms, the atlatl functioned as a spear-thrower which enhanced hunting
efficiency as a whole. The atlatl is a aquiline piece of wood or bone with an indented cup at one
terminal which propels the butt terminal of a lance when thrown.
The diverseness and polish of Upper Paleolithic tools reflect the technological
inventions introduced to modern human civilization. Blade engineering, in peculiar
contributed to the creative activity of mobiliary graphics in the signifier of little statuettes and sculptures,
while other tools were created specifically to craft tools designed for several different intents.
The cause for the disappearing of Neanderthals around 40,000 old ages ago and the outgrowth
of modern worlds remains to be a popular subject for archeological argument. The replacing of
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Neandertal mans with modern worlds can be attributed to the theory of hybridization, and grounds
that supports this belief suggests that trade webs were established in Europe between the two
species. Furthermore, greater population denseness and closely aggregative sets provoke
interesting inquiries sing their domestic inclinations and the distribution of toolkits
throughout these groups. The finely elaborate workmanship that characterize tool engineering
in the Upper Paleolithic period paved the manner for traditional hunter-gatherer societies and the
gradual outgrowth of agribusiness and domestication.
Decision
Paleolithic tool engineering is an interesting and indispensable point of prehistoric survey. The
development of unsophisticated raping percussion techniques of leveling flakes from nucleuss to
the polish of attaching diverse blade engineerings to wooden lances is a absorbing facet of
early human life. The highly gradual development of tool engineering reflects the
behavior of the persons who used these tools and the forms in versions to the
environment which early worlds occupied. This can besides be explained through analysis of rock
tool engineering in the stuff record. Technological invention throughout the whole of the
Paleolithic period occurred in springs and bounds and Michigans and starts over an highly drawn-out
sum of clip. This cardinal facet of tool engineering grants us a window into the yesteryear and
an invitation to understand the lives of the persons whom preceded the defining of homo
history.
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Bibliography
Chazan, M. ( 2012 ) .World Prehistory and Archaeology: Nerve pathwaies Through Time( Second Canadian ed. ) . Toronto: Pearson Canada.
