Friday, August 14, 2009

Fire Used to Make Better Tools 75,000 Years Ago


From :Live Science

Early humans crossed a threshold around 75,000 years ago, when they started painting symbols, carving patterns and making jewelry. A new study found they also began to use fire to make tools around that time.


Until now, this complex, multi-step process for tool making was only known to occur as recently as 25,000 years ago in Europe. But the new findings show this breakthrough occurred much earlier, and in Africa, not Europe.
By heating up stones in a fire before chipping away at them to make blades, early humans could make tools sharper and produce them more efficiently.
Scientists think this advancement represents a link between the earlier use of fire for cooking and warmth, and the later production of ceramics and metals


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