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First Bronze & Stone Tools

Millions of years ago, early hominids first began fashioning crude tools out of objects they found around them, such as rocks and sticks. These tools were used to make certain tasks easier to accomplish. As homo sapiens evolved, tools became more sophisticated, constructed from alloys such as copper and bronze, heralding a prehistoric period known as the Bronze Age.

Oldowan Tool
- The earliest evidence of stone tools was found in the 1930s by archaeologist Louis Leakey in the Olduvai Gorge in the African nation of Tanzania. Scientists estimate these so-called Oldowan tools to be 2 million years old, and were created by hominines, a subfamily of hominids, during the Lower Paleolithic period. Subsequently, even older Oldowan tools were discovered in Gona, Ethiopia, and are dated to approximately 2.6 million years ago. Olodwan tools are essentially small, circular rocks that have been chipped away by some form of percussive force, leaving one edge sharp and the other round and blunted.
Uses of the Oldowan Tool
- These early stone tools likely had two primary uses: to cut and to hammer. In this respect, Oldowan tools are versatile, with the sharpened end serving as a type of knife for cutting and the rounded thick, blunt end used to pound. Scientist believe these tools were used to pound plant materials and to dig for roots and tubers. It is also likely that some hominids used the sharp tips of these tools to cut animal meat and hides.
Bronze
- There was a long period between the stone age and the bronze age as homo sapiens' tool-making skills slowly evolved. According to "Encyclopedia Britannica," the bronze age began at approximately BC 3000, and archaeological evidence suggests the earliest occurrences of bronze casting took place in Greece, Egypt and China. Bronze is an alloy produced from mixing copper, tin and a small amount of lead or other type of metal, resulting in a stronger, harder metal than copper, which had previously been used to make tools.
Early Bronze Tools
- Bronze was found to be a far superior metal to copper, which was too soft for aggressive use and didn't hold its sheen for long. Bronze tools were shaped by hammering to create tools, household items and weapons. Bronze was especially effective in knives, axes and other cutting instruments, and could be sharpened more easily than those made from copper. Weapons made from bronze were the most dangerous that had been made up to that time because of their strength and sharpness.

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