Pre-History

Pre-History: A Technology Timeline

Australopithecus appeared around 4 million years ago. From their arrival there has been a development of technology and idea's that we have been able to trace through artefacts and other evidence that they left behind.

In this post we explore the main concepts and technological developments that is evident from this time through to the Bronze Age (or Ancient History).

This period of time covers the evolution of man, leading us to the emergence of Homo sapiens.  Refer to here.

Oldowan Tool

Oldowan tools, dating back as far as 2.5 million years ago, are the oldest known tool industry. Used for cutting plants and butchering animals these artefacts have been found in several locations across Africa.

Early hominids began to modify cobbles by striking them with another stone, a method known as hard-hammer percussion. By striking the cobble this way they created a sharp edge which could then be used to dismember animals that had been killed and scraping animal hides.

Acheulean tools

Acheulean Tools appear around 1.6 million years ago, marking significant progress in the technology. Named after the site on France where they were first discovered, these artefacts are the work of Home erectus and have been found in Africa, India and Europe. These included choppers, flakes and cleavers.

These technologies were replaced by the Levalloisian stone-flaking technique and Mousterian industry at the beginning of the Fourth Glacial Period.

The controlled use of fire is still unclear. The earliest evidence of fire being used in a meaningful way comes from sites in Israel where burnt seeds and wood have been found together from about 790,000 years ago. There is possible evidence of sporadic use of fire from about 1 million years ago.

Mousterian tools

There is some debate as to when Mousterian tools first appeared, some say as early as 600,000 years ago - developing directly from  Acheulean technology - whilst others say around 300,000 years ago.

Mousterian tools are associated with Neanderthals and the classification of various tools and techniques has cause much debate through time and continues to be a complex aspect of pre-history.

The oldest wooden spears found to date were found in Germany. Spears began as sticks with sharpened ends but somewhere around 200,000 BCE humans began to attach stone points making the spear more effective.

It is thought that the bow emerged around 64,000 BCE. The earliest examples are from Denmark from about 9,000 BCE and the arrows from this time show evidence of having feathers attached.

Cave of Altamira, Spain

For a long time it has been held cave paintings in Europe are the oldest in the world. New discoveries in Indonesia and Australia are challenging this view. The difficulty lies in the dating methods used, but some clue lie in the images within the painting - for example the Genyornis which went extinct over 40,000 years ago.

The earliest bone needles found are from Europe and are dated back to c. 30,000 BCE. It is thought that they were used to join skins together and to thread shells and beads together in early forms of adornment.

Vestonicka Venus

It is thought that fire was first deliberately used to harden clay at around 24,000 BCE with the appearance of fired clay Venus figurines in what is now the Czech Republic. Prior to this such figures were carved from soft stone, bone or ivory.

The earliest evidence of pottery vessels have been found in China from around 18,000 BC. It is thought the growing stability of human settlements played a part in the spread of pottery vessels. Such vessels were used for storing food and for cooking.


Cordage, the twisting together of fibres, is thought to have started around  18,000 BCE. This process adds strength to threads and this discovery would have far reaching effects.

Jericho brick

There is evidence of mud bricks being used for house building as early as 10,000 BCE in Asia. Initially made from unbaked clay, sun baked and kiln fired techniques were later developed.

Somewhere around 9,000 and 8,000 BCE a stone wall was built at Jericho, Palestine - the first known settlement wall of its kind. It was five metres high and six hundred metres in circumference. It is thought that perhaps the wall may have been a defence against seasonal flood waters.

It is difficult to say exactly when basket weaving emerged as the types of materials used decay easily. The earliest known baskets have been carbon dated to around 10,000 BCE and are from Egypt. There are other examples from the Middle East dating to around 7,000 BCE.

By around 6,500 BCE people in what is now known as Pakistan were using bitumen to waterproof reed baskets.


The cold-working of natural metals (e.g. copper and gold) started somewhere around 8,000 BCE.

Evidence of copper smelting found in Turkey dates back to around 6,500 BCE. It is thought this was perhaps found by accident, but either way the technique of mixing arsenic and copper, to make an arsenical bronze, became widespread quickly. This alloy of crude bronze was much stronger and harder than copper alone.

From around 6,000 BCE water channels from the Tigris River were created to get water to the farmers fields. This practice also began in Egypt at about the same time, making use of the flood waters which timed perfectly with the growing cycle.

By around 5,000 BCE the ard plough was in use in Mesopotamia. This was a light weight plough that cut a shallow furrow and was dragged by draft animals.

At around 4,500 BCE the tournette wheel was developed, thus increasing efficiency in pottery making. They were turned either by hand or foot whilst the potter coiled the clay.

Somewhere around 3,200 BCE copper and tin are alloyed to create true bronze. Each civilisation entered their own Bronze Age at different times depending on when this technology emerged along with other characteristics such proto-writing and more features of urbanisation.

This marks the end of what we call Pre-History and the beginning of what we generally refer to as Ancient History.

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Bibliography & Further Reading:

Encyclopaedia Britannica Acheulean Industry

Museum of Anthropology Missouri Oldowan and Acheulean Tools

Bradshaw Foundation Stone Tools

Miss Barbara's The Coming of Humans

BBC News Cave Paintings

Australian Geographic Bird Rock Art

Irrigation Museum Irrigation Timeline

Winston, Robert (2013) Science Year by Year. DK Books, London ISBN 978-1-4093-1613-8