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The earliest stone toolmaking developed by at least 2.6 million years ago. The Early Stone Age includes the most basic stone toolkits made by early humans. The Early Stone Age in Africa is equivalent to what is called the Lower Paleolithic in Europe and Asia.The oldest stone tools, known as the Oldowan toolkit, consist of at least:• Hammerstones that show battering .. Read More..

Controlled burns have a long history in wildland management. Pre-agricultural societies used fire to regulate both plant and animal life. Fire history studies have documented periodic wildland fires ignited by indigenous peoples in North America and Australia.Fires, both naturally caused and prescribed, were once part of natural landscapes in many areas. Studies have .. Read More..

The earliest evidence for built shelter appears to have been constructed by Homo heidelbergensis ,who lived in europe between around 800,000 B.C.E. Anthropologists are uncertain whether these were ancestors of homo sapiens (humans) or Homo neanderthalensis(neanderthals) or both.We do know that our ancestors spent time in caves for hundreds of thousands of years.But Ca.. Read More..

Around 400,000 years ago,Homo Sapiens devised a solution to protect the vulnerable naked human body from the environment-clothes,Anthropologists believe the earliest clothing was made from the fur of hunted animals or leaves creatively wrapped around the body to keep out the cold,wind, and rain.Determining the date of this invention is difficult,although sewing needle.. Read More..

Spear manufacture and use is not confined to human beings. It is also practiced by the western chimpanzee. Chimpanzees near Kédougou, Senegal have been observed to create spears by breaking straight limbs off trees, stripping them of their bark and side branches, and sharpening one end with their teeth. They then used the weapons to hunt galagos sleeping in hollows. .. Read More..

The earliest recorded fish hooks are from Palestine about 7000 BC. In 2011, archaeologists in the Jerimalai cave in East Timor discovered the world's oldest fish hook, a shell hook between 16,000 and 23,000 years old.Fish hooks have been crafted from all sorts of materials including wood, animal and human bone, horn, shells, stone, bronze, iron up to present day m.. Read More..

A tally (or tally stick) was an ancient memory aid device used to record and document numbers, quantities, or even messages. Tally sticks first appear as animal bones carved with notches, in the Upper Paleolithic, a notable example is the Ishango Bone. Historical reference is made by Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79) about the best wood to use for tallies, and by Marco Pol.. Read More..

Around 35,000 BCE, Homo sapiens discovered the benefits of the application of rotary tools. This would have rudimentarily consisted of a pointed rock being spun between the hands to bore a hole through another material. This led to the hand drill, a smooth stick, that was sometimes attached to flint point, and was rubbed between the palms. This was used by many ancien.. Read More..

The use of stone instruments more than two million years ago heralded what we call the stone age and the very origins of humankind .while it is impossible to date when distinctly worked (rather than simply found)stone blades first appeared in the world,it seemms to have accured circa 30,000 B.C.E.The technique that evolved to create sharp stones is now called lithic r.. Read More..

Sewing has an ancient history estimated to begin during the Paleolithic Age. Sewing was used to stitch together animal hides for clothing and for shelter. The Inuit, for example, used sinew from caribou for thread and needles made of bone, the indigenous peoples of the American Plains and Canadian Prairies used sophisticated sewing methods to assemble tipi shelters. S.. Read More..

Wooden darts were known at least since the Middle Paleolithic (Schöningen, Torralba, Clacton-on-Sea and Kalambo Falls). While the spearthrower is capable of casting a dart well over 100 meters, it is most accurately used at distances of 20 meters or less. Seven spears were found in the Schöningen 13 II-4 layer, dating from about 400,000 years ago and thought to repr.. Read More..

The bow and arrow is a projectile weapon system (a bow with arrows) that predates recorded history and is common to most cultures. Archery is the art, practice, or skill of applying it.The bow and arrow appears around the transition from the Upper Paleolithic to the Mesolithic. After the end of the last glacial period, use of the bow seems to have spread to every cont.. Read More..

The oldest Australian Aboriginal boomerangs are ten thousand years old, but older hunting sticks have been discovered in Europe, where they seem to have formed part of the stone age arsenal of weapons.One boomerang that was discovered in Jaskinia Ob?azowa in the Carpathian Mountains in Poland was made of mammoth's tusk and is believed, based on AMS dating of objec.. Read More..

One of the oldest artifacts in the world ,rope is still extensively used in many environments.it seems unlikely that it will be replaced for many years.Traditionally made from natural fibres such as nylon and even steel.Rope is braided fiber,twisted to form a supple,strong medium.its strength is tensile,so its main use is to link objects ,one of which acts as a stable.. Read More..

The earliest known lunar calender is in the caves at lascaux,southwest France,and dates from around 15,000B .C.E Various series of spots represent half of the moon's near-monthly cycle,followed by a large empty square,which perhaps indicates a clear sky. A lunar calender counts months (a period of 29.530588 days) and is based on the phases of the moon. Months hav.. Read More..

The accidental  fermentation of a mixture of water and fruit in sunlight is thought to have led to the first discovery of an alcoholic drink by a prehistoric people.Evidence of intentionally fermented beverages exists in the form of stone age beer jugs dated as early as the neolithic period (10,000 B.C.E)other jugs have been excavated in southwest Asia and North Afri.. Read More..

A great part of the history of pottery is prehistoric, part of past pre-literate cultures. Therefore, much of this history can only be found among the artifacts of archaeology. Because pottery is so durable, pottery and sherds from pottery survive from millennia at archaeological sites.Before pottery becomes part of a culture, several conditions must generally be met... Read More..

It is very difficult to say when and where the first oil lamp was used. This is partly because it is difficult to draw a line detailing when the primitive forms of creating a continuous source of light from fire can be termed a lamp. The first lamps were made of naturally occurring objects, coconuts, sea shells, egg shells and hollow stones. Some believe that the firs.. Read More..

The sling is an ancient weapon known to Neolithic peoples around the Mediterranean, but is likely much older. It is possible that the sling was invented during the Upper Paleolithic at a time when new technologies such as the atlatl and the bow and arrow were emerging. With the exception of Australia, where spear throwing technology such as the woomera predominated, t.. Read More..

A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made out of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals.From ancient times grain has been stored in bulk. The oldest granaries yet found date back to 9500 BC and are located in the.. Read More..

Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large-scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry.America was the processing of copper in Wisconsin, near Lake Michigan. Copper was hammered until brittle then heated so it could be worked so.. Read More..

A dugout or dugout canoe is a boat made from a hollowed tree trunk. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon.Dugouts are the oldest boats archaeologists have found, dating back about 8,000 years to the Neolithic Stone Age. This is probably because they are made of massive pieces of wood, which tend to preserve better than, e.g., bark canoes. Along w.. Read More..

A chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge (such that wood chisels have lent part of their name to a particular grind) of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, stone, or metal by hand, struck with a mallet, or mechanical power, The handle and blade of some types of chisel are made of metal or wood with a sharp edg.. Read More..

A mudbrick is a brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw; also known by its Spanish name adobe. Brickmakers use a stiff mixture and let them dry in the sun for 90 days.In warm regions with very little timber available to fuel a kiln, bricks were generally sun dried. In some cases brickmakers extend.. Read More..

A sled, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle with a smooth underside or possessing a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners that travels by sliding across a surface. Most sleds are used on surfaces with low friction, such as snow or ice. In some cases, sleds may be used on mud, grass, or even smooth stones. They may be us.. Read More..

Defenses have been constructed for thousands of years.Bronze and Iron age hillforts took advantage of natural hills for defense purposes ,and the romans built the Saxon Shore along the southeast bcoast of Britain to deter invasion.The word fort is derived from the latin fortis meaning ""strong"" and many millitary installations are known as forts.Three major methods w.. Read More..

A travois (Canadian French, from French travail, a frame for restraining horses; also obsolete travoy or travoise) is a historical frame structure that was used by indigenous peoples, notably the Plains Indians of North America, to drag loads over land.The basic dog travois consists of two aspen or cottonwood poles notched and lashed together at one end with buffalo s.. Read More..

The earliest known shoes are sandals dating from approximately 7,000 or 8,000 BCE, found in the Fort Rock Cave in the US state of Oregon. in 1938. The world's oldest leather shoe, made from a single piece of cowhide laced with a leather cord along seams at the front and back, was found in the Areni-1 cave complex in Armenia in 2008 and is believed to date to 3,500.. Read More..

The first handmade material that humans created to make in to clothing was felt,which was made by intermeshing animal fibers under heat and pressure.Felt lacked the necessary durability,however ,and the real textile breakthrough came later with weaving.weaving is accomplished with a loom,a frame that holds vertical threads taut while the weaver interlaces a horizontal.. Read More..

Some of the earlieast known examples of maps-in the form of Babylonian tablets -are egyptian land drawings and paintings discovered in early tombs.However,in 1961 a town plan of Catalhoyuk in turkey was unearthed,painted on a wall.featuring houses and the peak of a volcano,it is around 8,500 years old.The sixth-century tablet known as Imago Mundi shows Babylon on the .. Read More..

Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw. Wattle and daub has been used for at least 6000 years and is still an important construction material in many parts of the world.. Read More..

Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall. Additionally, irrigation also has a few other uses in crop production, which include protecting plants against frost, sup.. Read More..

An axe (or ax) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber,as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many forms and specialised uses but generally consists of an axe head with a handle, or helve.Before the modern axe, the stone-age hand axe was used from 1.5 million years BP without a handle. .. Read More..

The ard (or scratch plough) is a rudimentary plough that is light, without a mouldboard, symmetrical on either side of its line of draft, and fitted with a symmetrical share that traces a shallow furrow but does not invert the soil (as opposed to a turnplough).Evidence of its use in prehistory is sometimes found at archaeological sites where the long, shallow scratche.. Read More..

Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster is manufactured as a dry powder and is mixed with water to form a paste when used. The reaction with water liberates heat through crystallization and the hydrated plaster then hardens. Plaster can be relatively easily worked with metal tools or even sandpaper. These characteristics make plaste.. Read More..

Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used with a toothbrush as an accessory to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth.The Greeks, and then the Romans, improved the recipes for toothpaste by adding abrasives such as crushed bones and oyster shells.In the 9th century, the Persian musician and fashion designer Ziryab invented a type of toothpaste, which.. Read More..

Wood is one of mankind's oldest building materials. The ability to shape wood improved with technological advances from the stone age to the bronze age to the iron age. Relatively little information about carpentry is available from pre-history (before written language) or even recent centuries because the knowledge and skills were passed down person to person, ra.. Read More..

Early in human history, people recognized the advantages of being able to move over water. Early dug-out boats quickly gave way to larger, more advanced design, and ultimately to enormous ocean-worthy ships, rowed by crews of hundreds when not under sail. Naturally, the competitive spirit of human nature resulted in boat racing, though the sport has only really held a.. Read More..

Canals and navigations are human-made channels for water. In the vernacular both are referred to as 'canals'. The main difference between them is that a navigation parallels a river and shares its drainage basin, while a canal cuts across a drainage divide.The oldest known canals were irrigation canals, built in Mesopotamia circa 4000 BC, in what is now Iraq a.. Read More..

The earliest use of adhesives was discovered in Italy. At this site, two stone flakes partially covered with birch-bark-tar and a third uncovered stone from the Middle Pleistocene era (circa 200,000 years ago) were found. This is thought to be the oldest discovered human use of tar hafted stones.The birch-bark-tar adhesive is a simple, one component adhesive. Although.. Read More..

A corduroy road or log road is a type of road made by placing sand-covered logs perpendicular to the direction of the road over a low or swampy area. The result is an improvement over impassable mud or dirt roads, yet rough in the best of conditions and a hazard to horses due to shifting loose logs.This type of road is known to have been used as early as 4000 BC with .. Read More..

A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the buck-tail. On installation the rivet is placed in a punched or drilled hole, and the tail is upset, or bucked (i.e., deformed), so that it expands to about 1.5 times the original shaft diamet.. Read More..

The wheel and axle is one of six simple machines identified by Renaissance scientists drawing from Greek texts on technology. The wheel and axle is generally considered to be a wheel attached to an axle so that these two parts rotate together in which a force is transferred from one to the other. In this configuration a hinge, or bearing, supports the rotation of the .. Read More..

Grease from the early Egyptian or Roman eras is thought to have been prepared by combining lime with olive oil. The lime saponifies some of the triglyceride that comprises oil to give a calcium grease. In the middle of the 19th century, soaps were intentionally added as thickeners to oils. Over the centuries, all manner of materials have been employed as greases. For .. Read More..

A cart is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from a dray or wagon, which is a heavy transport vehicle with four wheels and typically two or more horses, or a carriage, which is used exclusively for transporting humans.Carts hav.. Read More..

The Ancient Egyptians had knowledge of sail construction. This is governed by the science of aerodynamics. A primary feature of a properly designed sail is an amount of ""draft"", caused by curvature of the surface of the sail. Hannu was an ancient Egyptian explorer (around 2750 BC) and the first explorer of whom there is any knowledge. He made the first recorded expl.. Read More..

An oven is a thermally insulated chamber used for the heating, baking or drying of a substance, and most commonly used for cooking. Kilns and furnaces are special-purpose ovens, used in pottery and metalworking, respectively.The earliest ovens were found in Central Europe, and dated to 29,000 BC. They were roasting and boiling pits inside yurts used to cook mammoth.Th.. Read More..

The term flail refers to two different weapons, a two-handed infantry weapon derived from an agricultural tool and a one-handed weapon. The defining characteristic of both is that they involve a separate striking head attached to a handle by a flexible rope, strap, or chain. The two-handed variant saw use in a limited number of conflicts during the European Middle Age.. Read More..

The taozhong, the earliest kind of bell, appeared in primitive Chinese society. It was an instrument for labouring people to play after work. The introduction of metal brought about the tongnao (a bronze percussion instrument resembling an inverted bell, sounded by a hammer), tongling (a small bronze bell) and tongzhong (a bronze bell). Then they evolved into the bian.. Read More..

The earliest surviving candles originated in China around 200 BC, and were made from whale fat. European candles of antiquity were of the made from various forms of natural fat, tallow, and wax. In Ancient Rome, candles were made of tallow due to the prohibitive cost of beeswax. It is possible that they also existed in Ancient Greece, but imprecise terminology makes i.. Read More..

Pliers are a hand tool used to hold objects firmly, possibly developed from tongs used to handle hot metal in Bronze Age Europe.They are also useful for bending and compressing a wide range of materials. Generally, pliers consist of a pair of metal first-class levers joined at a fulcrum positioned closer to one end of the levers, creating short jaws on one side of the.. Read More..

Investment casting is an industrial process based on and also called lost-wax casting, one of the oldest known metal-forming techniques.From 5,000 years ago, when beeswax formed the pattern, to today’s high-technology waxes, refractory materials and specialist alloys, the castings allow the production of components with accuracy, repeatability, versatility and integ.. Read More..

In modern clothing and fashion design, a button is a small fastener, most commonly made of plastic, but also frequently of seashell, which secures two pieces of fabric together. In archaeology, a button can be a significant artifact. In the applied arts and in craft, a button can be an example of folk art, studio craft, or even a miniature work of art.Buttons are most.. Read More..

A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head from injuries.Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g. UK policeman's helmet) without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from blunt object and sword blows and arrow strikes i.. Read More..

The invention of the ski has contributed greatly to society for the past 5000 years.unlike today,early skis were not used for fun and leisure but for work and transportation,playing a key role in both hunting and warfare.They were made of wood and were not designed for speed.They simply served the purpose of keeping the traveler on top of the snow,with walking sticks .. Read More..

Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including exercise, leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and rivers.The oldest pair of skates known date back to about 3000 B.C., f.. Read More..

Cuneiform is a system of writing first developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia c. 3500-3000 BCE. It is considered the most significant among the many cultural contributions of the Sumerians and the greatest among those of the Sumerian city of Uruk which advanced the writing of cuneiform c. 3200 BCE. The name comes from the Latin word cuneus for 'wedge.. Read More..

Early dam building took place in Mesopotamia and the Middle East. Dams were used to control the water level, for Mesopotamia's weather affected the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and could be quite unpredictable.The earliest known dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan, 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast of the capital Amman. This gravity dam featured an originally 9 m (30 ft).. Read More..

The chair is known for its antiquity and simplicity, although for many centuries it was an article of state and dignity rather than an article of ordinary use. ""The chair"" is still extensively used as the emblem of authority in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom and Canada, and in many other settings.Committees, boards of directors, and academic departments .. Read More..

SOAP, originally an acronym for Simple Object Access protocol, is a protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of web services in computer networks. It uses XML Information Set for its message format, and relies on other application layer protocols, most notably Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.. Read More..

An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct (a long bridge) may be made from a series of arches, although other more economical structures are typically used today.Possibly .. Read More..

Brazing is a metal-joining process whereby a filler metal is heated above melting point and distributed between two or more close-fitting parts by capillary action. The filler metal is brought slightly above its melting (liquidus) temperature while protected by a suitable atmosphere, usually a flux. It then flows over the base metal (known as wetting) and is then cool.. Read More..

The term glass developed in the late Roman Empire. It was in the Roman glassmaking center at Trier, now in modern Germany, that the late-Latin term glesum originated, probably from a Germanic word for a transparent, lustrous substance.Naturally occurring glass, especially the volcanic glass obsidian, has been used by many Stone Age societies across the globe for the p.. Read More..

The history of joining metals goes back several millennia. Called forge welding, the earliest examples come from the Bronze and Iron Ages in Europe and the Middle East. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus states in The Histories of the 5th century BC that Glaucus of Chios ""was the man who single-handedly invented iron welding"".Welding was used in the construction .. Read More..

A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtight cavity which can be expanded and contracted by operating the handles, and fitted with a valve allowing air to fill the cav.. Read More..

Sewage is a water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains.It was probably more the need to get rid of foul smells than an unde.. Read More..

Since before 2000 BC, humans have utilized pesticides to protect their crops. The first known pesticide was elemental sulfur dusting used in ancient Sumer about 4,500 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia. The Rig Veda, which is about 4,000 years old, mentions the use of poisonous plants for pest control.By the 15th century, toxic chemicals such as arsenic, mercury, and le.. Read More..

The earliest known uniform systems of weights and measures seem all to have been created at some time in the 4th and 3rd millennia BC among the ancient peoples of Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, and perhaps also Elam (in Iran) as well. The most astounding of these ancient systems was perhaps that of the Indus Valley Civilization (ca. 2600 BC). The Indus Valle.. Read More..

Wrought iron has been used for many centuries, and is the ""iron"" that is referred to throughout Western history. The other form of iron, cast iron, was in use in China since ancient times but was not introduced into Western Europe until the 15th century, even then, due to its brittleness, it could be used for only a limited number of purposes. Throughout much of the.. Read More..

Many ancient cultures around the world have independently discovered and formulated inks for the purposes of writing and drawing. The knowledge of the inks, their recipes and the techniques for their production comes from archaeological analysis or from written text itself.The history of Chinese inks can be traced back to the 23rd century BC, with the utilization of n.. Read More..

The World's  first enclosed harbor,or tidal dock,is believed to have been constructed thousands of years ago during the Harappan or indus valley civilization.It is located at Lothal,in the present-day Mangroul harbor,on India's Gujarat Coast,bordering the indian Ocean.The dock was discoverd in 1955 and is believed to have been constructed around 2500 B.C.E.it.. Read More..

The Babylonians are said to have built a tunnel under the euphrates River in circa 2180 B.C.E using what is now known as the cut-and-cover method.The river was diverted,a wide trench was dug across the riverbed,and a brick tube was constructed in the trench.The riverbed was filled in over the tube and the river allowed to resume its normal course.However,there is no f.. Read More..

During the 19th and 20th centuries, water filters for domestic water production were generally divided into slow sand filters and rapid sand filters (also called mechanical filters and American filters). While there were many small-scale water filtration systems prior to 1800, Paisley, Scotland is generally acknowledged as the first city to receive filtered water for .. Read More..

The oldest known lock was found by archeologists in the Khorsabad palace ruins near Nineveh. The lock was estimated to be 4,000 years old. It was a forerunner to a pin tumbler type of lock, and a common Egyptian lock for the time. This lock worked using a large wooden bolt to secure a door, which had a slot with several holes in its upper surface. The holes were fille.. Read More..

The history of anesthesia has a painful background. The 18th century observed numerous medical advances and discoveries.The primary motive was to save countless lives that were lost every year by diseases and conditions unknown to the physicians of the time. This led to the increased practice of surgery which was often hindered by the excruciating pain it brought to t.. Read More..

The spoked wheel was invented to allow the construction of lighter and swifter vehicles. The earliest known examples are in the context of the Andronovo culture, dating to ca. 2000 BC. Soon after this, horse cultures of the Caucasus region used horse-drawn spoked-wheel war chariots for the greater part of three centuries. They moved deep into the Greek peninsula where.. Read More..

A saw is a tool consisting of a hard blade, wire, or chain with a toothed edge. It is used to cut through relatively hard material, most often wood. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and moving it forcefully back and forth. This force may be applied by hand, or powered by steam, water, electricity or other power source. An abrasive saw h.. Read More..

The history of the alphabet started in ancient Egypt. By the 27th century BC Egyptian writing had a set of some 24 hieroglyphs which are called uniliterals,to represent syllables that begin with a single consonant of their language, plus a vowel (or no vowel) to be supplied by the native speaker. These glyphs were used as pronunciation guides for logograms, to write g.. Read More..

The basic umbrella was invented over four thousand years ago. We have seen evidence of umbrellas in the ancient art and artifacts of Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and China.These ancient umbrellas or parasols, were first designed to provide shade from the sun. The Chinese were the first to waterproof their umbrellas for use as rain protection. They waxed and lacquered their.. Read More..

Quern-stones are stone tools for hand-grinding a wide variety of materials. They were used in pairs. The lower, stationary, stone is called a quern, while the upper mobile stone is called a handstone. They were first used in the Neolithic to grind cereals into flour.Quern-stones have been used throughout the world to grind materials, the most important of which was us.. Read More..

The earliest and simplest aqueducts were constructed of lengths of inverted clay tiles and sometimes pipes which channelled water over a short distance and followed the contours of the land. The earliest examples of these date from the Minoan civilization on Crete in the early 2nd millennium BCE and from contemporary Mesopotamia. Aqueducts were also an important featu.. Read More..

According to historical references and legend, early balls ranged from human heads, stitched up cloth, animal and human skulls to pig or cow bladders.During the Ts'in and Han Dynasties (255 BC-220 AD), the Chinese played 'tsu chu', in which animal-skin balls were dribbled through gaps in a net stretched between two poles. Certain ancient Egyptian rites are.. Read More..

The sun travels across the sky at the rate of 15 degrees per hour(reappearing at a given point after one day) and the shadow that it casts moves at a soimilar rate.In sunny climes teh shadow has been used as a clock.The most ancient bclock was the vertical obelisk.This tapering column,rather like Cleopatra's needle in london,cast a shadow that varied in its length.. Read More..

Spring-type scissors probably date from the Bronze Age.Consisting of blades connected by a C-shaped spring at the handle end,they were used in Egypt from 1500 B.C.E to cut silhouettes for artwork.Pivoted scissors used in ancient Rome and parts of Asia were made of bronze and iron ,as were sixteenth-century European ones.Scissors and other implements became more widely.. Read More..

Water clocks were among the earliest timekeepers that did not depend on the observation of celestial bodies. One of the oldest was found in the tomb of Amenhotep I, buried around 1500 B.C. Later named clepsydras (""water thief"") by the Greeks, who began using them about 325 B.C., these were stone vessels with sloping sides that allowed water to drip at a nearly const.. Read More..

Steel was known in antiquity, and may have been produced by managing bloomeries, or iron-smelting facilities, in which the bloom contained carbon.The earliest known production of steel is a piece of ironware excavated from an archaeological site in Anatolia (Kaman-Kalehoyuk) and is about 4,000 years old.Other ancient steel comes from East Africa, dating back to 1400 B.. Read More..

A sword is a blade weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration. A sword in the most narrow sense consists of a straight blade with two edges and a hilt. However, in nearly every case, the term may also be used to refer to weapons with a single edge (b.. Read More..

Egyptian tomb paintings from around 1420 B.C.E. depict a ship fitted with steering oars on either evidence of the use of the rudder principle,by which water flowing past the boat's hull is redirected.The same technique was long used on Mediterranean cargo ships,but the vikings preferred a single oar,mounted to the starboard side of the stern of their longboats.The.. Read More..

The early calculating instrument we know as the abacus-consisting of a wooden frame supporting wires or rods on which wooden beads slide from side to side-was developed in Mesopotamia from a flat,sand-covered,stone counting board on which pebbles were moved.This aid to calculation was in use long before the adioption of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system and can be used .. Read More..

Pontoon bridge, floating bridge, used primarily but not invariably for military purposes. A pontoon bridge was constructed in 480 bc by Persian engineers to transport Xerxes’ invading army across the Hellespont (Dardanelles). According to Herodotus, the bridge was made of 676 ships stationed in two parallel rows with their keels in the direction of the current. Alex.. Read More..

A battering ram is a siege engine originating in ancient times and designed to break open the masonry walls of fortifications or splinter their wooden gates.During the Iron Age, in the ancient Middle East and Mediterranean, the battering ram's log was slung from a wheeled frame by ropes or chains so that it could be made more massive and be more easily bashed agai.. Read More..

The modern concept of a sandwich using slices of bread (as found within the Western World) can arguably be traced to 18th century Europe. However, the use of some kind of bread or bread-like substance to lie under (or under and over) some other food, or used to scoop up and enclose or wrap some other type of food, long predates the 18th century, and is found in numero.. Read More..

Smallpox is believed to have first appeared around 10,000 B.C.E. Ramses V died suddenly in 1157 B.C.E his mummy bears scars that have a striking resemblance to those left by that scourge.Smallpox killed about a third of its victims and left many survivors scarred.But it was noted that survivors never got smallpox againAfter the eldest son of China's Prime Minister.. Read More..

Although the invention of Kites is often attributed to China,where materials ideal for kite building were readily available: silk fabric for sail material; fine, high-tensile-strength silk for flying line; and resilient bamboo for a strong, lightweight framework, there is compelling evidence that the first simple kites were developed in the Malay Archipelago, possibly.. Read More..

Possibly by 1500 BC people in Mesopotamia used rope pulleys for hoisting water. Archimedes of Syracuse invented the first compound pulleys 287 BC - 212 BC. Plutarch reported that Archimedes moved an entire warship, laden with men, using compound pulleys and his own strength.In 1730 Benjamin Franklin established his own printing house in Philadelphia. A young man at th.. Read More..

The word ""buckle"" enters Middle English via Old French and the Latin buccula or ""cheek-strap,"" as for a helmet. Some of the earliest buckles known are those used by Roman soldiers to strap their body armor together and prominently on the balteus and cingulum. Made out of bronze and expensive, these buckles were purely functional for their strength and durability v.. Read More..

The need to moor ships and boats is as old as the vessels themselves.The ancient world-Mesopotamia,Egypt,Greece,and Rome-used whatever came to hand for the task,from a basketful of stones to a sackful of sand,lowered by rope.Single large stones with a rope-hole became common.Use of metal crept in gradually during classical times,as ships increased in size and varied a.. Read More..

The invention of the crossbow revolutionized warfare, and the technology would spread from Asia through the Middle East and into Europe by the medieval period. In a sense, the crossbow democratized warfare - an archer did not need as much strength or skill to deliver a deadly bolt from a crossbow as he or she would have with a traditional compound bow and an arrow.The.. Read More..

The extent to which human beings extend their natural capabilities through tha use of machines is something that distinguishes us from other members of the animal kingdom.Cranes are an especially relavant example of this; the ability to raise and maneuver weights vastly greater than those that people could lift and move unaided has played a defining role in the develo.. Read More..

The earliest known written reference to an artificial limb was made around 500 B.C., Herodotus wrote of a prisoner who escaped from his chains by cutting off his foot, which he later replaced with a wooden substitute. An artificial limb dating from 300 B.C., was a copper and wood leg unearthed at Capri, Italy in 1858.In 1529, French surgeon, Ambroise Pare (1510-1590) .. Read More..

A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the ""tension"" of a rope or wire rope (also called ""cable"" or ""wire cable""). In its simplest form it consists of a spool and attached hand crank. In larger forms, winches stand at the heart of machines as diverse as tow trucks, steam shovels and elevators. T.. Read More..

Chainmail was the earliest form of metal armour and was probably invented before the 5th century by the ancient Celts. The name mail comes from the French word ""maille"" which is derived from the Latin ""macula"" meaning ""mesh of a net"". The armour itself involved the linking of iron or steel rings, the ends of which were either pressed together, welded or riveted... Read More..

The first evidence of distillation comes from Greek alchemists working in Alexandria in the 1st century AD.Distilled water has been known since at least c. 200, when Alexander of Aphrodisias described the process.Distillation in China could have begun during the Eastern Han Dynasty (1st–2nd centuries), but archaeological evidence indicates that actual distillation o.. Read More..

A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear formerly used extensively by infantry. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown. Pikes were used regularly in European warfare from the early Middle Ages until around 1700, and wielded by foot soldiers deployed in close order. The pike found extensive use with Landsknecht armies and Swiss m.. Read More..

A compass is an instrument containing a freely suspended magnetic element which displays the direction of the horizontal component of the Earth's magnetic field at the point of observation.The magnetic compass is an old Chinese invention , probably first made in China during the Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.). Chinese fortune tellers used lodestones (a mineral compose.. Read More..

A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron, but also others such as lead or copper.Blast furnaces existed in China from about 1st century AD and in the West from the High Middle Ages. They spread from the region around Namur in Wallonia (Belgium) in the late 15th century, being introduced to Englan.. Read More..

A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. Although the catapult has been used since ancient times, it has proven to be one of the most effective mechanisms during warfare.  Catapults were invented by the ancient Greeks.Castles a.. Read More..

The stirrup, which gives greater stability to a rider, has been described as one of the most significant inventions in the history of warfare, prior to gunpowder. As a tool allowing expanded use of horses in warfare, the stirrup is often called the third revolutionary step in equipment, after the chariot and the saddle. The basic tactics of mounted warfare were signif.. Read More..

The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider or other load, fastened to an animal's back by a girth.The most common type is the equestrian saddle designed for a horse, but specialized saddles have been created for camels and other creatures.It is not known precisely when riders first began to use some sort of padding or protection, but a blanket attached by so.. Read More..

By definition a plow (also spelled plough) is a farm tool with one or more heavy blades that breaks the soil and cut a furrow (small ditch) for sowing seeds. A moldboard is the wedge formed by the curved part of a steel plow blade that turns the furrow.One early type of plow used in the United States was little more than a crooked stick with an iron point attached, so.. Read More..

In woodworking and construction, a nail is a pin-shaped object of metal (or wood, called a treenail or ""trunnel"") which is used as a fastener, as a peg to hang something, or sometimes as a decoration.Generally nails have a sharp point on one end and a flattened head on the other, but headless nails are available. Nails are made in a great variety of forms for specia.. Read More..

A dry dock (sometimes dry-dock or drydock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, and repair of ships, boats, and other water craft.The use of dry docks in China goes at least as far back the 10th century A.. Read More..

The early history of the windmill is much contested,and it is not known for sure when or where it first appeared.some date it as far back as Babylonia in the seventeenth century B.C.E., that wind power was used to pump water in china and mill cereal in persia.it is however,reliably documented that windmills were widespread in persia by the seventh century C.E. They gr.. Read More..

An astrolabe is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, determining local time given local latitude and vice-versa, surveying, triangulation, and to cast horoscopes. It was used in classical antiquity, the Islamic Golden A.. Read More..

One widely recognized ancient Greek invention is the Antikythera mechanism. This device was found in a ship wreck off the small island of Antikythera, hence the name. No specific inventor is known. The mechanism was a type of calculator that was invented around 2000 years ago, between 150-100 B.C.  It is considered the world's first computer, although it doesn’.. Read More..

Parchment is a material made from animal skin,often calfskin, sheepskin, or goatskin. Its most common use was as a material for writing on, for documents, notes, or the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. Parchment is limed, scraped and dried under tension. It is not tanned; therefore, it is very reactive to changes in relative humidity and will revert to rawhide if.. Read More..

Belts, ropes and chains have been used as traction devices for centuries. Babylonians and Assyrians used chains for the first time for water drawing machines. By 1430, endless rope haulage was used to drive grinding devices, and in the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci (1452 to 1519) link chains are shown.During the course of industrialization, which started with the inve.. Read More..

A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping (rolling, grinding or wire drawing). There are two basic types of watermills, one powered by a vertical waterwheel through a gearing mechanism, and the other equipped with a horizontal waterwheel without such a mecha.. Read More..

Glassblowing is a glass forming technique which was invented by the Syrian craftsman in the 1st century BC somewhere along the Syro-Palestinian coast. The establishment of the Roman Empire provided motivation and dominance of glass production by this method, the use of blown glass for everyday tasks spread. The Phoenicians set up the first glass workshops on the easte.. Read More..

Genko's Forest Belt is a system of historic forest belts in Russia's Ulyanovsk Oblast. Planted over a century ago, it is now considered a "natural monument", and is legally protected as one of the protected areas of Ulyanovsk Oblast.HistoryIn 1886-1903, watershed protection forest belt planting was carried out in this area. The project was initiated by the wel.. Read More..