Author Topic: Early humans used innovative heating techniques to make stone blades  (Read 846 times)

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Offline Free Vulcan

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Humans living in South Africa in the Middle Stone Age used advanced heating techniques that vastly improved living conditions during the era.

According to a new study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, humans living in South Africa in the Middle Stone Age after 65,000 years ago deliberately heated silcrete, a hard, fine-grained, local rock used in stone tool manufacture, so that they could more easily obtain blades from the core material.

A major effect on hunting

These blades were then crescent shaped and glued into arrow heads. This era, known as the Howiesons Poort, has produced the first known evidence for the use of the bow and arrow.

“This is the first time anywhere that bows and arrows were used. This would have had a major effect on hunting practices as both spears and bow and arrow could be used to hunt animals,” says Professor Christopher Henshilwood...

Read more at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161020092107.htm
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Online bigheadfred

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Re: Early humans used innovative heating techniques to make stone blades
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2016, 08:39:20 pm »
I bet the first instance was accidental as it was probably just another rock around a fire pit. The (much) later Egyptians used the technique and produced some fantastic blades.
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