General characteristics of the Mesolithic era. Virginsky V., Khoteenkov V. Essays on the history of science and technology from ancient times to the middle of the 15th century Development of stone processing technology in the history of mankind

4. Notes and outline of the article “New tasks and new forces” Not the topic of the day, but “New tasks, new forces” The article was not thought out, not completed (135). Therefore, there is no clear development of strictly defined thought. These are newspaper sketches, silhouettes, conversation, “thoughts and notes,” and not an article. Legalization and

Chapter 2. Technology of the Paleolithic period

Early, or lower, Paleolithic" (about 800-600 thousand years - about 100 thousand years BC). Archaeologists distinguish the Chelles2 and Acheulean3 periods in the development of the material culture of the Early Paleolithic. It is assumed that the most ancient people who stood at the level their development between Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus, they made tools of the Chellean type, while the tools of Sinanthropus belong to the Acheulean type.
The main type of tools in this period were stone hand axes, or strikers, and smaller tools made from stone fragments. Chops and points had a universal purpose, being both tools and weapons. To make them, Paleolithic man used flint, and where it was not available, quartzite, petrified wood, siliceous tuff, porphyry, basalt, obsidian and other rocks. Chelles tools were made using upholstery technology. The natural piece of stone was given the necessary
"In recent years, the Paleolithic period has begun to be defined as the Archaeolithic, distinguishing the Early Archaeolithic - the era of the Archanthropes and the Late Archaeolithic - the era of the Paleoanthropes (Neanderthals, etc.).
"Named after the city of Chelles in France. J Named after the site of the first discovery of Saint-Acheul in the suburbs of Amiens (France).

shape by applying successive blows with another stone (chipper). The cutting of a hand ax was a kind of creative act. Each strike required careful selection/point of impact. The result of the first strike could reinforce or change the intended plan of action. Each subsequent blow depended on the previous one. It was necessary not only to find the optimal impact from many possible ones, but also to select the bump stop based on its overall shape, weight, and shape of the working part. The position of the stone during processing was important. One of the technical requirements was an accurate calculation of the force of impact on the stone, on which not only the size and thickness of its cross-section depended, but also the success of the entire work. During the process of chipping, the stone that was struck was held not horizontally by primitive man, but obliquely, at an angle of 30-40°. This position made it possible to deliver the most powerful and effective blows.
The axes were large, massive (10-20 cm long) almond-shaped, oval or spear-shaped tools with a sharp working end and a heel on the upper, wide end, which served to support the palm during work. Along with axes, flakes were used - shapeless fragments of stone, the edges of which were turned into cutting tools by trimming. Primitive tools made of wood (clubs, stakes), bones and shells were also used. The oldest Paleolithic sites were discovered in Armenia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and the Southern Dniester region.
Acheulian type tools became smaller and more elegant than Chellean ones. The dominant form of tools remained the hand ax, however, it also underwent a change, acquiring a more regular geometric shape. The method of stone processing has also improved. In contrast to the rough finishing characteristic of Chellean axes, the Acheulian “masters” began to process the stone with numerous small, light and frequent blows (retouching), giving the working part of the hand ax a smoother surface. This technique of stone processing made it possible to obtain straighter and sharper axes, points, scrapers and so-called drills. All these tools were used for digging up edible roots, cutting up carcasses, killed animals, cutting down trees, etc.

During the Early Paleolithic, fire was mastered - initially by using and maintaining naturally occurring fire. At that time, a hot climate dominated in the places where humans spread. The main economic activity was gathering, supplemented by occasional hunting of animals. With rare exceptions, the hunt was driven.
The Acheulean hunter's weapons were too weak to allow him to kill a large animal directly. Probably, large mammals were frightened by noise, fire, stones and driven to a deep natural gorge or a large cliff. The animals fell and broke, and man could only finish them off.
Sinanthropus brought the meat obtained during the hunt, using animal trails, to its home on its shoulders and back.
People lived in small primitive herds, or hordes. The tools were so primitive that they excluded the possibility of fighting the elements alone. Tools, hearth, products of labor - everything was in the common possession of the primitive herd. There were no permanent settlements. However, people lived not only in natural shelters - caves, etc., but also in artificial buildings. Thus, in the early Acheulean settlement of Terra Amata (near Nice), the remains of oval huts from 8 to 15 m long and from 4 to 6 m wide were found. The huts were made of branches supported by a central pole. The hearths in the center of the dwellings were lined with thin stone tiles and protected from the wind by a small wall.
There were no stable relations between the sexes. The existence of couples that arose and broke up depended entirely on the desires of both sides. The dominance of herd relations excluded the existence of any contacts between partners related to the distribution and consumption of food and prevented the formation of any kind of family. The formation and existence of couples was based only on the egoistic desire to satisfy the sexual instinct. There were no social norms that would regulate people’s sexual relations during this period.
At the same time, there is no doubt that in the primitive human herd there was a sharp struggle between egoistic and herd-collectivist forms of behavior. Already in the Early Paleolithic era, a gradual process of eliminating animal egoism in the acquisition and distribution of food and in sexual life began. The development of driven hunting, joint protection from predatory animals, and maintaining a fire contributed to the consolidation of the primitive herd, the development of first instinctive and then conscious forms of mutual assistance. The action of natural (proto-community-individual) selection contributed to the preservation of precisely those groups in which social ties were most pronounced. The more monolithic the human herd was, the more strongly social

communications, the more successfully it could resist enemies, obtain food, and fight the elements.
The thinking of ancient people developed as a derivative of their work activity. The creation of the simplest tools required the work of thought, and since it took place in a team, people had a need to express these thoughts in words. Sound speech in the history of mankind was one of those forces that helped people stand out from the animal world, unite into society and organize social production.
The speech of people of the Early Paleolithic period was poorly differentiated, very limited and was supplemented by facial expressions and gestures. The development of speech, along with the complication of the collective work activity of people and their social connections, became the basis for a qualitative transition from the higher nervous activity of anthropoids to truly human thinking. In the higher nervous activity of a person, a second signaling system develops. The human body has now begun to respond not only to signals from immediate external stimuli, like the organisms of other living beings, including anthropoids. The human body now began to respond to words that had become “signals of signals.” Generalized concepts are expressed in words. The ability to generalize and to think abstractly is characteristic only of humans. The process of cognition of reality in humans is at a qualitatively different level than in all other living beings, even the most developed.
Middle Paleolithic (about 100 thousand years - about 40 thousand years BC). The next step in the development of the productive forces of primitive human society was the transition from the Early to the Middle Paleolithic, approximately 100 thousand years ago.
During this era, a sharp change occurred in the climate of our hemisphere - cooling and the formation of glaciers that moved far to the south. By this time, the morphophysiological type of a person had changed. The so-called Neanderthal type, which is closer in physical structure to modern man, has become widespread.
Neanderthals were of average height, extremely strong build, muscular and agile creatures. However, the hand was different from the hand of a modern person: it was rougher and more massive and less adapted to subtle movements. Brain development was approaching modern people, but its structure continued to remain primitive. Neanderthals' ability to logical thinking was limited. The behavior was characterized by sharp excitability. However, primitive people of the Neanderthal type not only did not become extinct and did not retreat to the harshness of the Ice Age climate, but, on the contrary, settled in new places. This indicates that, in terms of the level of their material and spiritual culture, they were able to adapt to nature. Neanderthal remains have been found in Europe, South Africa and Asia.

Traces of Neanderthals have also been found in Southern Ukraine, in Crimea (near Simferopol), in the Middle and Lower Volga region, in the south of Uzbekistan, and in Abkhazia. Along with the remains of Neanderthals, traces of their labor activity were found.
Archaeologists attribute the Middle Paleolithic tools of the Neanderthals to the so-called Mousterian period." These tools were made mainly from plates and flakes chipped from the core (core). Stone processing techniques were improved. Along with impact retouching, which was used in the Acheulean period, counter-impact retouching was invented in the Mousterian era . New way consisted in the fact that the tool being made rested on a stone or bone base (anvil), and it was struck with a wooden mallet. The meaning of such processing was that the blow transmitted through the tool to the anvil was returned to the tool, and stone flakes flew off from its processed part facing the anvil. As a result, subtle and thorough retouching appeared on the blades of the tools. The tools became more and more differentiated. The scraper, processed only along one edge, was intended for cutting up animal carcasses and scraping out skins. Pointed points, which were used as tips for spears and darts, were processed on both sides. Archaeologists suggest that it was during this period that composite tools began to appear. Some tools were specifically used for making other tools - stone, wood, bone, horn. It was bone and horn that primitive man used for production purposes (retouchers, points, anvils) and for the manufacture of small “pointed tools.”
During this period, artificial fire production was mastered, which was a grandiose achievement of mankind. Only by learning to make fire with the help of friction did people for the first time force the inorganic force of nature to serve them. According to archaeologists, in addition to the friction of wood against wood, another way of producing fire was striking a spark when stone struck stone, and in later periods - at the stage of the developed Neolithic - the bow method of producing fire, when drilling wood became an economic necessity.
The mastery of fire by primitive man provided him reliable protection by cold. Fire, along with the development of hunting, made it possible for people to explore new areas that were previously inaccessible. Making fire made people less dependent on the climate. He began to use fire for protection from predators and for hunting. Apparently, fire was used in the manufacture of tools, as well as for cooking.
With the development of technology, hunting large animals became (along with gathering) the main type of economic activity
"Named after the Le Moustier cave in the Dordogne department of Southwestern France.

of people. The labor activity of Neanderthals was based on simple cooperation (simple cooperation), which opened up the possibility of solving problems that were completely beyond the capabilities of one person, especially when hunting large animals. Hunting was a common activity for all adult members of the herd, the number of which reached 20-30 people. Apparently, there were larger associations, but they could only be accidental.
An effective method of hunting was a mass roundup. Dozens of hunters threw spears at the animal at the same time. In the Mousterian era, hunting by ambush in trees could have existed. Hunters lay in wait for animals near water bodies or threw them into abysses, cordoning off the herds in the squares. The subjects of the hunt were cave bear, mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, reindeer, wild boar, bison, etc. The hunting season was late autumn, when the animals, having gained meat and fat over the summer, were preparing for hibernation. Of course, the most important means of hunting was fire.

The Paleolithic era is characterized by primitive means of transport that were just in their infancy. Neanderthals probably transported hunting prey in bags made from skins torn from killed animals. Heavy prey was transported to the place of residence on freshly flayed skins on tree bark by dragging.
Means of water transport apparently developed before land means of transportation. This was due to the fact that rivers, lakes and coastal waters of the seas provided excellent natural routes of communication. On the territory of our country, movement along rivers and lakes played a particularly important role.
For crossing water streams and swimming along rivers and lakes over short distances, trunks of fallen trees, logs, and bundles of brushwood or reeds could be used. Rowing was carried out with hands and feet.
Neanderthal sites were becoming more and more permanent, and caves were often used for dwellings as ready-made natural refuges from predatory animals and harsh climates. Where there were no caves, simple barriers, curtains and huts were built. In Ukraine, at the Moldova-1 site, a large display of mammoth bones and the remains of a dwelling, apparently covered with animal skins, were discovered. The cold climate forced not only to use the heat obtained from fire, but also to dress in animal skins. The beginning of the production of hides and leather dates back to the Mousterian era. Dressing consisted of removing the flesh - a layer of subcutaneous tissue that hardened during the drying process, for which a stone scraper was used.
The Neanderthal had everything necessary for intensive work. However, the structure of his brain suggests that he was a creature not yet sufficiently adapted to the conditions of social life. Excitation in the activity of the cerebral cortex and, as a consequence, the increased aggressiveness of the Neanderthal noticeably prevailed over inhibition. The vicious nature of the Neanderthals led to frequent clashes within the herd, which, as burials show, were often fatal. All this made the development of the Neanderthal herd as a social form of life problematic.
The only way out of this impasse was joint work. It was this, as well as the use of common caves and other dwellings, the joint production and maintenance of fire that strengthened the bonds within the human herd. With a low level of productive forces, an equal distribution of the results of gathering and hunting was inevitable.
During the Mousterian period, particularly great progress occurred in the elimination of the animal egoism of primitive man, as evidenced by the facts of mutual assistance to sick and crippled relatives. The first indirect evidence of the manifestation of care for members of the human herd - Neanderthals - dates back to the same time.

sky burials. The appearance of burials also indicates the emergence of primitive religious ideas among Neanderthals, in particular the funeral cult. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the Neanderthal knew some elements of magic.
The beginnings of a maternal clan community emerge. In promiscuous marriages, only the mother was indisputably known, while the father of the child often remained unknown. In the primeval household the woman occupied a leading position - maintaining the hearth, creating and storing food supplies, dressing skins, etc. The woman also actively participated in gathering and hunting. The Mousterian period was a transitional stage to the time of mature matriarchal communities.
Late, or Upper, Paleolithic (40-13 thousand years BC). Towards the end of the Ice Age (about 40 thousand years ago), the transition to the late, or upper, Paleolithic occurred.
The rise of productive forces and the formation of the initial forms of clan organization, which emerged in the Mousterian era, had a decisive influence on the intensive development of the anterior parts of the Neanderthal brain, and therefore on the formation of inhibitory reactions and the suppression of aggressiveness and wild anger. In connection with this, the appearance of a person also changed. The development of the anterior lobes of the brain led to an increase in the height of the cranium and the eventual disappearance of the brow ridge. In connection with the improvement of speech and the restructuring of the speech apparatus, a chin protrusion appeared. All these morphophysiological features were selected and preserved from generation to generation under the influence of ancestral community-individual selection. As a result, a modern physical type of man was formed, called “reasonable man” (Homo sapiens). This type has been preserved in its main features to this day. At that time, local varieties of Homo sapiens, called races, began to develop. In the further course of historical development, the races discovered equal abilities and opportunities in the development of material and spiritual culture. The uneven cultural development of individual peoples was caused by completely conscious reasons and had nothing to do with racial differences.
Archaeologists classify the tools of the Late Paleolithic era as the so-called Aurignacian, Solutrean2 and some other types.
In the Upper Paleolithic, tools remained mainly stone. Along with such rocks as flint, quartzite, etc., from which the main tools were made in previous eras, Upper Paleolithic man began to use granite, shales, ironstones and others
" Received its name from the Aurignac cave in Southwestern France 2 The Solutrean culture is named after the Solutrean site in France, Saône-et-Loire department

breeds They served him as chippers, slabs and pestles for grinding grains and paints, retouchers, stones for hearths, laying out floors and bases for walls, material for decorations, etc. Breaking of stone deposits was carried out at the very surface, in places of rock outcrops, in cliffs , on the banks of rivers and lakes, without any significant deepening into the ground. The breaking out of the rock was carried out, in all likelihood, with stakes made of strong wood. Pieces of stone of the required size were beaten on site with a hammer.

The technology of stone processing has changed significantly. If in the Mousterian era, as a result of processing disc-shaped cores, a person was able to obtain rough plates, then Homo sapiens improved the technique of chipping. Now the “master” first produced a correctly faceted, prismatic core. Then the necessary plates were broken off from it, which were subjected to further processing by chipping and fine (squeezing) retouching using a permanent squeezer.
This technique, which originated in the Aurignacian era, made it possible to obtain long massive chips, similar to knives with an edge on one side, to produce short scrapers, scrapers with a rounded convex or concave working edge, and incisors.
Further improvement of the pressing technique of stone processing is associated with the Solutrean culture, which followed the Aurignacian. Specialized tools appear: points with a blunt edge, knives, incisors, sharp and light laurel-leaf dart tips, processed with great skill on both sides by pressing retouching
In the Late Paleolithic, products made from drilled stone appeared - these were mainly beads, pendants, etc. To drill holes in them, first a one-handed method was used, and then a two-handed one, by rotating a wooden rod between the palms

with flint drill. The appearance of sawing stone and the emergence of grinding the working parts of stone tools probably dates back to this time. Many tools began to be used with wooden and bone handles or in frames. Composite stone tools, which appeared in the Mousterian era, became more diverse in the period under review, which was an important stage in the development of primitive production.

In the Magdalenian era, the technique of squeezing retouching, characteristic of the two previous periods, disappears, and at the same time the tools created with its help. Only small cutters, piercings, scrapers, plates with a blunt edge, inserts, blades become widespread - necessary tool for processing bone and wood. This era is sometimes called the age of bone. The bone industry is flourishing. From

bones and horns are used to make harpoons, piercings, needles with an eye, tips for hoes and spears, polishes, picks, etc. Planing and drilling were used for their manufacture. The production of wooden utensils and dishes developed.
Hunting during the Late Paleolithic reached a high level of development. Hunters of this period had a new weapon system - throwing spears and darts with stone and bone tips. In the Magdalenian era, human muscular strength was supplemented by mechanical strength: a spear thrower was invented, which made it possible to increase the flight of the dart and harpoon to 70-80 m. Apparently, by the end of the Magdalenian the bow was invented.
The emergence of new hunting weapons, which did not require large reserves of raw materials for their production, made it possible for Upper Paleolithic hunters to explore new areas rich in game.
The specialization of weapons directly affected the methods of hunting. Large animals were hunted with spears, darts and harpoons. Apparently, the construction of fences from felled trees dates back to this time. As evidenced by the drawing from the Marsoula grotto (France), the fence of the fence was made in the shape of a triangle from knotted trees fallen to the ground. The animals, pursued by the hunter, fell inside this fence and had to run along a narrow passage, behind which there was a river or ravine.
Hunting with camouflage developed, when the hunter dressed in the skins of deer, bison and other animals. In this form he could
“A spear thrower is a plank with a stop, which makes it possible to give the spear an initial speed, twice that of a normal hand throw, and almost equal to the speed of an arrow fired from a bow

successfully approach the animals to the distance required to deliver an accurate strike.
At the end of the Late Paleolithic, in the Magdalenian era, small and medium-sized animals and even birds became the subject of hunting.
Paleolithic paintings indicate the beginning of domestication during this period of the dog, which began to accompany man on the hunt.
Along with hunting, fishing began to acquire some importance.
Thus, collective driven hunting, which reached during this period highest development, combined with the individual dexterity of a hunter equipped with effective weapons, turned from an accidental into a more guaranteed event and became one of the most important ways of providing the entire human collective with the means of subsistence. Hunting provided meat and fat for food and lighting, bones and horns for tools, sinew for sewing threads, skins for housing and sewing clothes, leather for belts and shoes.
The dressing of hides and leather improved during the Late Paleolithic period. Along with mechanical processing by fleshing and fatliquoring, which had been used since the Mousterian era, they began to use the simplest chemical treatment - liming, which was used to remove hair from the skin. In the northern regions, chemical treatment of the skin was carried out with substances of animal origin - a mixture of reindeer liver and brain with the addition of seabird egg yolk.
Approximately 25-30 thousand years BC. man mastered weaving as the elementary basis of textile production. Tree bark, stems and leaves of plants, as well as animal hair were used as raw materials. From these, man began to weave strips and ribbons for sewing clothes, learned to twist ropes and twist threads.
The cave still remained a dwelling place for humans. However, during this period, the construction of long-term public dwellings of both the above-ground type - made of wood, bones, animal skins - and dugouts became widespread. In our country, sites with artificial structures have been found on the Don and Ukraine, in the Caucasus, Crimea, etc.
Individual dugouts reached 200 m2, their walls were reinforced with stones, and the roof, as archaeologists suggest, was conical in shape and consisted of poles covered with branches and skins. \
An example of an Upper Paleolithic settlement is the Kostenkovsky site on the Don (near Voronezh). There were large houses in which members of the maternal clan community lived. Along the true axis of the dwelling, which was up to 35 m long and 15-16 m wide, there were a dozen fireplaces that were used for heating and lighting the room. One of the hearths was used for firing iron ore, from which red paint was extracted. Somewhat later, towards the end of the Late Paleolithic, they apparently began to use special lighting devices to illuminate homes -

stone lamps, which were bowls with a hollow hollowed out for fat and wick. There were also several utility pits for storing food, various products, and for roasting meat. The roofs of the dwellings apparently had a gable shape and were supported by pillars.
During the period under review, water vehicles received further development. Logs and logs began to be leveled as a result of an instinctive search for more streamlined shapes. The man tried to use bundles of reeds to transport cargo through the water, while he himself swam nearby, pushed the raft with one hand, and rowed with the other.
Archaeologists believe that Late Paleolithic people may have known the rudimentary form of the reed shuttle.
Great progress was the transition to a single-shaft boat. During its production, wood was burned, followed by cleaning with stone axes and adzes. To push off such a boat, they began to use poles, and for rowing they used rough blades - the rudiments of oars.
As for land routes and means of communication, their development was fraught with great difficulties. Animal trails remained the main land routes of communication. However, a pole made of freshly flayed skin or tree bark, used in the previous era, was equipped with a pole that slid along the ground when moving with its rear end and reduced friction.
During this era, primitive art developed - cave and other paintings, artistic treatment bone and stone products (elements of sculpture), etc. The beginnings of art, testifying to enormous progress in primitive culture, were closely connected with the main economic activities of the people of that time, primarily with hunting and with beliefs, which were also reflected in funeral and other rituals of that era.
The reason for the emergence of the most ancient religious ideas - totemism, animism, fetishism and magic - was the low level of productive forces and the weakness of people in the face of formidable and incomprehensible natural phenomena.
The objects of the cult were the ancestor mother, as evidenced by images of the so-called “Paleolithic Venuses” made of bone, stone and baked clay, animals and plants considered the ancestors (totems) of the community, reflected in cave painting, etc. Not only people , but also animals, plants, etc. were endowed with special “spirits” (demons), whose favor could be attracted by witchcraft rituals.

The Mesolithic (from the Greek mesos - middle, intermediate) is a short transition period (ca. 12-7 thousand years BC) between the ancient Stone Age (Paleolithic) and the subsequent new Stone Age (Neolithic). It is sometimes called Epipaleolithic (from Greek epi - after), which literally means post-Paleolithic, or proneolithic (from Greek protos - first), literally - the first Neolithic.

The time boundaries of the Mesolithic are very approximate, since its onset and end in different areas of the globe did not coincide in time. The beginning of the Mesolithic coincided with the end of the melting of glaciers and the corresponding changes in climate, geographical landscape, flora and fauna. Cultures in the Mesolithic are territorially limited in nature and their clear sequence inherent in the Paleolithic is no longer observed:

The Arctic climate gave way to a subarctic one, and the areas freed from ice became covered with forests. Reindeer, living in herds, retreated to the north, cave bears and mammoths became extinct, and were replaced by modern views forest and steppe animals. Therefore, collective methods of driven hunting began to give way to individual methods. Accordingly, weapons and their functions changed, throwing weapons and, above all, bows and arrows became widespread.

Changes in the flora (fauna) provided more favorable conditions for the domestication of wild animals and the development of cattle breeding. By this time, goats, sheep, and sheep had already been tamed, and then it was the turn of cattle. Gathering became more highly organized and they began to gradually move from it to the artificial cultivation of the most important cereals.

The process of cultivation began with cutting down bushes and weeding using stone and bone hoes and sickles. "

There was a further expansion of human production activity and there was a transition from collecting and appropriating forms of economy, gathering, hunting and fishing, to producing ones - agriculture and animal husbandry. Farming, like housekeeping, became a purely female sphere of activity.

Mesolithic people lived in light and small buildings, used loincloths, and in the north they sewed clothes from animal skins. Fire began to be widely used not only for domestic needs, but also for technological purposes - sharpening sticks and giving the ends greater hardness, burning tree trunks when making boats, etc. At that time, they lived in primitive tribal groups who Over time, they began to unite into hunting-gathering tribes.

With the transition to agriculture and cattle breeding at the end of the Mesolithic, people began to simultaneously switch to a sedentary lifestyle, and permanent settlements began to emerge. Therefore, if earlier he was satisfied with natural shelters and temporary structures, now man began to build more permanent huts, wooden in wooded areas, and from earth, clay and reeds in treeless areas.

Improving stone tools and stone processing methods

Mesolithic technology is characterized by the further development and spread of composite stone tools. Their cutting part was a knife-shaped (wedge-shaped) plate, which was inserted into a wooden or bone frame and secured to it mechanically or by gluing. Products began to acquire increasingly clear geometric shapes, their external finish and appearance improved.

The expansion of the production of stone products led to the separation of specialized technological operations in the production process: separation of thin plates (flakes) from the stone; rough stone upholstery; finishing of stone using point and press retouching; drilling holes, etc. In each such operation, it was possible to clearly identify the tool, the movements it made, as well as the result of its influence on the source material.

The emergence and spread of bows and arrows and other types of throwing weapons

The main technical achievement of the Mesolithic era was the widespread use of the bow and arrow.

Bows appeared in the Magdalenian era of the late Paleolithic, but then during driven hunting of large animals (mammoth, bison, etc.) it was little effective and was almost not used. This powerful and rapid-fire throwing weapon existed until the appearance of the weapon in the 17th century. firearms, which for a long time could not compete with it in terms of availability and efficiency. And at the end of the 19th century. the bow has been revived again, but in a different capacity - a sporting version.

Simultaneously with the bow, another type of throwing weapon appeared - the boomerang, which was a sickle-shaped stick made of hard wood, which, with a technical throw, could return to the place from which it was thrown. This exotic weapon has been preserved by some natives of Africa and Australia to this day, and has also begun to be revived, like the bow, as a sporting weapon. The use of a bow, boomerang and spear throwers, on the one hand, stimulated the development of hunting, on the other, testified to the beginning of man’s intuitive mastery of the laws of mechanics.

Spread of microlithic technology

The wide distribution of throwing weapons (arrows, darts, harpoons, etc.) with flint tips and the sharply increased consumption of the latter led to the development of a technology for their manufacture, called microlithic (from the Greek mikros - small + lithos). Products equipped with microliths turned out to be much easier to manufacture and more durable than solid ones, which was especially important for tools: cutters, drills, chisels, etc.

Microlithic technology quickly spread to many continents and became the culmination of the development of stone processing technology. It became the basis for the creation of new types of tools and weapons, significantly reduced the labor intensity and time required for their production, and also contributed to a significant increase in the productive forces of the primitive communal system.

Nowadays, a similar technology for reinforcing tools with hard alloy has received its new development in the production of metal- and mineral-ceramic tools. Along with microliths, the production of macroliths continued: axes, hoes, adzes, harpoons and other large stone tools. In their production, new methods of stone processing such as grinding, spot retouching and drilling began to be widely used.

Development of fisheries, transport and use of fire

Fishing and hunting of sea animals became widespread, which created a need for appropriate means of transportation. The technology for manufacturing single-shaft boats was improved and their production expanded. By this time, such fishing tools as harpoons, fishing segs and seines, and barbed hooks were already known.

As land transport, along with drags known since Mesolithic times, skis and transport devices on runners: sleighs, sleds, etc. began to be widely used. The expansion of production activities and the need for transportation of various goods required the construction of new roads -fibers and improving their quality.

Fire began to be used not only for domestic, but also for technical needs. With its help, the cavities of boats were burned out, the ends of sticks were sharpened and strengthened, and large stones were split by heating and pouring water.

Agricultural and household appliances

The origin of hoe farming required specialized agricultural tools for cultivating the land (hoes, spades), harvesting crops (sickles, forks, rakes), as well as for processing grain (pestles, mortars, grain grinders).

In the household, along with various wooden, bone and leather utensils, the first coarse clay (ceramic) products, still in unfired form, appeared: pots, cups, lamps, etc.

Dyatchin N.I.

From the book “History of Technology Development”, 2001

Paleolithic. Under the broad term "stone Age" we understand a huge period, spanning tens of thousands of years, when the main material from which tools were made was stone. In addition to stone, of course, wood and animal bones were used, but objects made from these materials were preserved either in relatively small quantities (bone) or not preserved at all (wood).

The technologies of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic were not diverse and were dictated by the harsh natural conditions of these eras. The development of human communities at this time was determined by hunting and gathering. Among the large groups of Paleolithic sources are hand tools And ground structures. The last group is less numerous, but very informative, as it gives an idea of ​​the level of “engineering” thinking of Paleolithic man. The remains of Late Paleolithic structures are the most studied. Modern researchers distinguish two types of such structures - temporary and permanent. The first type is close to the modern plague (dwelling of peoples Far North Europe and America) and is a cone-shaped frame of wooden poles placed vertically and covered with animal skins. Long-term dwellings had a dome shape (the frame was made of both wood and mammoth ribs), a kind of foundation made of mammoth jaws or skulls. Technologically, such a structure is close to the modern northern yaranga. Yarangas, unlike tents, are more stable and have a larger area. Remains of similar structures were found in France (Mezin), Ukraine (Mezhirichi site) and Russia (Kostenki site).

No less expressive source of knowledge of Paleolithic man was drawings in caves. Such drawings were discovered in caves in France and Spain - Altamira (1879), La Mout (1895), Marsoula, Le Grez, Marnifal (beginning of the 20th century), Lascaux (1940), Roufignac (1956). In 1959

Rock paintings were also discovered on the territory of Russia - in the Kapova Cave in Bashkiria. It must be said that until the beginning of the 20th century. many researchers questioned the antiquity of the discovered drawings - they were too realistic and multi-colored. Their excellent preservation did not support the ancient dating either. The first doubts about antiquity were shaken after the discovery of a drawing of an elephant in the Chabot Cave (France). Subsequently, the improvement of excavation techniques and the development of technical means made it possible to date the drawings in the caves more accurately, and it turned out that most of them actually belong to the Paleolithic era.

In addition to evidence of ancient fauna, these images provide insight into primitive paint technology and lighting. For example, durable mineral paints were used to create drawings, which were a mixture of crushed stones, ocher and water. Since it was dark in the caves, the ancient artists used stone lamps - flat stones with hollowed-out recesses into which fuel (obviously animal fat) was poured into which the wick was lowered.

The beginning also dates back to the Paleolithic man's mastery of fire - one might say, the first energy revolution in human history. There are different points of view on the dating of the earliest use of fire (traces of such use, for example, are noted at sites Homo erectus, however, the most likely dating is 120-130 thousand years BC), but the main thing is that fire changed human life. It became possible to use new products for food (both plant and animal origin), heat habitats, and protect themselves from wild animals with fire. All this led to biological changes - the person received more energy, as well as new useful substances. Later, with the help of fire, it became possible development pottery, blacksmithing and many other crafts.

Important changes occur at the border between the Middle and Upper Paleolithic. At this time, a hard-to-explain radical leap occurs in the physical and, most importantly, intellectual development of the emerging person: a person of the modern type appears (and has hardly changed since then) - Homo sapiens, the history of human society begins. This process originates in Africa (the formation of Neanderthals took place in Europe at the same time). About 40-30 thousand years ago Homo sapiens begins to spread to other regions - Asia, Australia and Europe. This leads to the assimilation by Homo sapiens of the hominids located in these regions (modern anthropologists sometimes find Neanderthal features on Homo sapiens skulls dating back to the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic).

Mesolithic. Important changes in technology and knowledge occur during the Mesolithic era. This period is characterized by the beginning global warming. Natural conditions are gradually changing - the melting of glaciers leads to an increase in the area of ​​inland water bodies and the development of certain species of fauna. A person masters a new form of activity - fishing. Warming has led to the gradual disappearance of megafauna. However, modern researchers are inclined to believe that, for example, the extinction of mammoths is associated not so much with changes natural conditions, how much with human activity. Thus, the migration of mammoths to the northern parts of Europe was accompanied by their extermination by tribes of hunters. We can also say that already in the Stone Age there are features of the later era of consumption - man killed more mammoths than he could eat.

Man masters hunting for smaller fauna (relatively small mammals, birds) - One of the main inventions of mankind appears in the Mesolithic - Bow and arrows. This is an ingenious device where potential energy is converted into kinetic. The relatively small one-time damage (compared to spears or stones) caused by arrows to an animal or bird was compensated by the rather high initial speed of the arrow, hit accuracy and firing rate. The bow was used not only for hunting land inhabitants, but also for fishing. Spears continued to be used in hunting, but were developed into another Mesolithic invention - the harpoon, a thrusting weapon primarily tipped with bone, used to catch large fish.

During the Mesolithic era, insertion tools. Such tools (for example, a knife) were based on a small thick stick with a longitudinal groove in the middle. Small thin stone plates were inserted into this trench to form a blade. As the blade became chipped or if it broke off, the blade could be replaced with a new one, without requiring the entire blade or its base to be changed - hand-held insert tools were easier to produce, which led to their widespread use.

The history of the “material production” of primitive man is not very rich, but, constantly remembering that such inventions as simple and then inserted stone tools, bows, arrows, traps, and the development of fire were made for the first time, it is difficult to object to the fact that if labor may not have created man, but it certainly ensured his survival in changing natural conditions.