Stone Ages

Technologies that humans used in the Old Stone Age

Fabricating and utilizing tools as well as the cultural transmission of technology became essential to the human mode of existence and were practiced in all human societies. Humans strike as being the only creatures that accommodate tools to create other tools. No human society has survived without technology. Due to evolution humankind has been able to prefect the mastery and transmission of tool making. Administrating fire exemplifies a new technology for humankind. Fire provides a source of protection, warmth; it made human migration into colder climates possible, opening up different areas of the globe for human habitation. Fire made it possible for foods to be cooked, which help in digesting the food faster and more efficiently. Fire-hardened wooden tools became permissible to humankind. Their knowledge of fire gave early humans a sense of great control over nature. Two million years ago to the end of the Last Ice Age the Paleolithic age was born. Paleolithic technology established through the service of a basic food collecting economy. Paleolithic tools sustained in hunting or savaging animals and for collecting and processing plant and animal food. Food collecting produced little surplus. Males generally hunted for animals, while females went about gleaning plants, seeds, and eggs as food and medicines. Both sexes together contributed to the survival of the group. Several late Upper Patheolithic cultures in Europe created paintings and sculptures of sites, often in caves. Artist also created jewelry and portable adornments. There is no full understanding of why they created these pieces of art. Anthropologists have suggested they did this for hunting rituals, magical beliefs, religious beliefs, and sexual symbolism. Religious beliefs and practices formed a social technology, as it strengthened communities and their effectiveness. The inconceivable endurance of the Patheolithic society and existence relied on human mastery of an interlocked set of technologies and practices. It seems fair to say Patheolithic people applied implicit skills rather than ideological or scientific knowledge to practice their crafts. They were keen observers who lived close to nature, the moon would naturally present itself as a significant object, and it sparked interest with its obvious severity.