In the beginning there were rocks.
Seriously.
The first weapons were used for hunting. Flint was chiseled into arrow heads (a clovis point), the material was strong as steel and sharper. When used with bows, they were powerful enough to pierce a horse from its hindquarters to its heart. The same points were attached to longer wooden shafts to make spears.
The flint knife had serrations along the edge, as the flint would break in predictable ways. Fragments were useful for making tools along with horns and antlers. They were sharpened for cutting leather, and scraping the skins of animals for clothes.
Stone age tools:
Blade core: stone or obisdian used for making different tools by flaking off peices of the core.
End Scraper: used to scrape fur from animal hides.
Burin: stone tool used to carve bone, antler, or wood. Picture a case cutter, but in the stone age the rounded stone piece was the handle while a triangular blade portruded from it.
Awl: used for shredding plant fibers.
Antler Harpoon: used for hunting large marine animals. picture a rose stem, instead of the thorns facing the sky, the barbs bent away from the point on the top.
Clovis point: used for killing large animals and cutting plants.
Bone flute: used for playing music.
Beads: may have been used for currency.
Needle: used for stitching hides.
Bone Point: projectile hunting tool. A deep groove cuts into the base of the point where a wooden shaft was secured with resin.
Most stories occur long after this time period, but the resilience of man, and the use of creativity to aid survival is always interesting.
For more info go to
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/stoneage/tool-nf.html
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4 comments:
Great information. Even when we write about cave men, we have to do research!
Yep.
I like research, i can get lost in it. You never know when a character could get lost in a time warp, or have to rough it in the woods. I will be posting on weapons of different periods and cultures. I wish I could add pictures, some of the ceremonial swords are beautiful.
Take care,
Jen
Jen: I love all this fresh info. Like Donna said, we never know when our character will have his sword confiscated and find himself in the woods with no food. All good stuff to know.
I am impressed with how clever some of the inventions were.
Research always. Even little things, like language and customs. The Nazis could tell an American from a Britain by the way they ate. Americans eat with thier fingers more. True. how often do you eat pizza with a fork?
I like research sometimes i get lost in it though.
stay tuned the bronze age is next and that leads us to organized military.
Jen
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