Overview
This section of our History Fair Topic will cover numerous topics about the three most valuable ancient time periods. They are the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. I will discuss when it occured, what were the innovations of that era, why it is so important, and interesting side facts.
The Stone Age
The Stone Age differs from the other two periods of time in several ways, one of which is the fact that it is seperated into three different sections: The Paleolithic,Mesolithic, and Neolithic era. Paleothic- This age is believed to have begun somewhere between 600,00o to 700,00 years ago. This is the theorized time period in which cave drawings depicting man utilizing tools were first drawn. The oldest tools tools that we can identify appeared sometime in the Pleistocene era (a subdivision of the Paleolithic). The most ancient artifacts that have withstood the power of time are constructed of flint, stone, bone, and antler. These tools when they were in their infancy were simple universal tools used for general tasks. But as our species grew so did their minds a more varied, more comlpex array of tools start to come into play. Now the tools of the first protohuman have specific purposes and designs that were made to enhance that tools efficiency. These humans had four main customs with these weapons pebble-tool traditions, hand-ax traditions, flake-tool traditions, and blade-tool traditions. Pebble-tools had a sharpened, single edge used for cutting or chopping. Hand-Ax tools were used for mainly chopping resources. Flake-tools were used for sharpening tools and creating them as well. Blade-tools were obviously used for some form of combat or hunting to provide sustenance. The oldest most recognizable artifact was found in the Lower Paleolithic era and thet are called the stone choppers. These tools are said to have been made by the Australopithecus, an ancient ancestor of man. One of the earliest cultures of these times were the Neanderthal and they discovered the greatest tool of all history: fire. Caves have been explored and revealed Neanderthal remains with clear evidence of the use of fire. There is also some crude evidence that the needle may have been a tool in those time, used for sewing together skin and fur to warm the body. In the Upper Paleolithic era it was their own version of a Renaissance so to speak. Tools such as flint, obisidian blades, and projectiles were discovered from this time. Clothing was sewn and worn, the first houses were being built, and even one of the first known religious belief systems formed. The Aurignacian culture is said to have used bone, horn, and ivory as the basis for their tools. The Hunters of the Solutrean created refined spearheads, shaped like a leaf (a design to allow slashing as well as stabbing maneuvers). The final yet most impressive culture of the Paleolithic era was the Magdalenian. They implemented tiny microliths that allowed a much smoother design and extended length. Their weapons were the finest and they created perhaps the most useful tool in fishing during those days: the harpoon. Mesolithic- This period of humanity began after the last glacial period (the Ice Age, which ended about 10,000years ago). This was a time of great change in the lifestyle and tools of humanity. Due to the massive climate change the large glacial game had all but disappeared, humanity's response to this was adaptation. Reformed food gathering techniques, hunting and fishing tactics, and artistic improvement. Settlements along the coast where fish and mollsks were in abundancy began to form. Pottery made its first appearence as did the deadly bow. The Maglemosians made one of the first improvements to a prehistoric, it was called a hafted ax which was an upgrade to the original hand ax. Neolithic- The Natufian culture, located in the Middle East, provided the earliest proof of a transition from the Mesolithic era to the Neolithic way of life.
The Bronze Age
The Bronze Age was a period of time that followed the Neolithic Era, it was a time of great things (3500-700 BC.). Metalurgists (a.k.a. Smiths) came about, using revolutionary smelters to forge no longer stone craft but metal works. Weapons were among one of the greatest creations of this time period. When one thinks of bronze most believe it is its own metal, this is incorrect. Bronze is a physical mixture of two metals. The mixture was copper and an assortment of several other possibilities consisting of arsenic, tin, and other impurities. The mixture was 85-95% copper and 5-15% other. This combination was widely used by many all around the world for a few reasons: lower melting point, easier to forge, more common, harder, and more reliable. This allowed bronze products to be "mass produced", so to speak. Bronze was also able to retain an edge better than stone making bronze the ideal material for weapons and tools at this time. The possibility of an easily forgeable metal gave way to many new weapon possibilities and capabilities. Shields, curved swords, elongated spear heads, and thousands of designs came to existence. Such as the carp's tongue sword (a common design in Europe around 1000 BC.), the socketed axe (allowed for a much more reliable blade, one that wouldn't fly off), and the mesopotamian sickle sword (the commonly seen Egyptian sword 3000 BC.) One of the most famous and infamous cultures of this time were the Spartans. A group of warriors who believed themselves to be the Greek God of strength Hercules and trained as if they were him. In these times men fought for individual glory and abandoned formation to do so. The Spartans however knew better, utilizing a now infamous formation known as "The Phalanx". An impenetrable wall of wood, bronze, and muscle. The Spartans utilized bronze swords, spears, and shields (bows were considered cowardly).