How Early Man Made His Tools

Early Man realized that he could use certain natural materials for his different purposes. He used pieces of stones to crush, cut and grind. With time, he realized that different shapes of stones helped him do certain jobs better; for example, the stones with sharp edges helped him cut roots or tear flesh rather easily. So, he learnt to shape his tools. He started to learn how to make tools out of small stones and rocks that lay scattered around him. Early Man learnt how to make a fire by striking two pieces of flint together. He learnt this by chance while making stone tools.

Early Man devised two methods for making his tools. These were stone-on-stone method and pressure-flaking method.

·        In the stone-on-stone method, one stone was hammered by another stone to give the former the required shape. This cut off the flakes from stone and it assumed the required shape of a tool.

·        In the pressure-flaking method, a stone was kept on a rock or other hard surface and then another stone or a piece of bone was kept on it, and then this stone or bone was hammered. The second method was a time-consuming but better one, as the stone could be given the required shape.

Materials such as basalt, flint, sandstone, shells and antlers were used to make these tools. Most of the stone tools were used for digging the ground whenever Early Man wanted to access the edible roots underground. Sometimes he made more efficient stone tools that served as stitching needles, arrows and spears which had wood or bone handles. Some sharp edged stone tools helped in cutting meat and bones, in chopping roots and fruits and in scraping tree barks and animal hides.