Talk about the first inventions of man implies mentioning a series of tools and ideas that today are very basic and indispensable, because it is difficult to imagine what the life of modern man would be like if there were no such inventions.
Perhaps it is not about the most important discoveries, but about those first expressions of intelligence materialized in objects and processes that meant a great novelty in the life of prehistoric man..
The need for survival, specifically with regard to how to get daily food, led primitive man to create objects that could help him with this task.
Hammers, axes and even species of sharp tools carved in stone, were the first forms devised to carry out the activity of hunting, the main source of food in prehistory, as well as to cut or condition the meat obtained from large animals.
Until a few years ago, the fossils found at that time in archaeological excavations indicated that the oldest stone tools corresponded to the Olduvayan Stage, whose name comes from the site where the Olduwai Gorge deposit is located (Tanzania).
Dating back 2.6 million years, these artifacts were believed to be the earliest stone tools and were attributed to the Australopithecus garhi.
But in 2009, during excavations carried out in Dikika, Ethiopia, skeletal remains of animals dating from about 3.4 million years ago were found, which showed cut marks, which indicated that their predator had used some type of sharp tool.
Later, in 2011, a group of researchers found a series of stone artifacts in Lake Turkana, Kenya at the site called Lomekwi, which dates back to about 3.3 million years..
These findings have greatly impacted theories about the evolution of man, since they imply the development of a human species prior to the Australopithecus garhi. At the same time, it reveals new evidence regarding the changes in the human brain in history.
Until this moment, it has not been possible to establish the exact moment in the history of the world in which man began to use fire under his control in order to take advantage of its action on food, as a source of heat and protection or its utility in tool making.
It has been impossible to define whether the archaeological data found at the research sites had natural or man-initiated origins, since there are many controversial inferences and opinions..
It has only been possible to establish a range within which it is probable that man has begun to control fire: at least 120,000 years ago but not beyond 700,000 years.
Now, the impact of the discovery of fire in the history of man has been enormous. It is presumed that the first contact of primitive man with fire was produced by naturally caused fires, most likely by lightning that fell in wooded or bush-filled areas, events whose consequences attracted attention due to the benefits that they derived.
From that moment he put his efforts into being able to create it, control it and take advantage of its benefits at will..
One of the great consequences of the use of fire in the first times of human history, was in fact, the same evolution.
When changing from a diet based on raw foods to one in which the food was subjected to the action of fire, it acquired a greater nutritional and caloric value, an effect directly related to the biological development of the first humans.
This is not to mention the immense technological and cultural advances that fire has brought to the history of mankind, being an important source of energy and a transforming element that allowed the development of areas such as biology, chemistry and metallurgy, among others..
In addition to being the basis of an industry of great importance today, the creation of colors from chemical substances has deeper implications, referring to the evolution of man as a social being.
The discovery of pigments and tools for their grinding in a Zambian cave, in the town of Twin Rivers, whose age ranges between 350,000 and 400,000 years, not only have a technological significance, but also suggest the use of some form of language and social behavior for the time.
Archaeologists maintain that these pigments were used for a kind of ritual in which the body was covered with them, as an expression of art. The fact that man was involved in this type of activity evidently suggests the existence of social groups in which it was necessary to communicate with each other in order to carry out the ritual or social event in question..
Hence the great importance attributed to the invention of pigments, being a key to research in matters as important as the evolution of language..
And it is that the use of signs and symbols used for this body art constitutes a new piece of information that can change the theories of researchers about the first uses of figures and representations as a form of communication..
Although they seem very basic today, all these inventions were the basis for many of the things that are part of modern life today, being the beginning of many important technological processes and / or tools..
Moreover, it is about inventions that changed the life of man when it comes to surviving or interacting with each other. Achievements that have defined cultures, beliefs and behaviors over the years and that even in modern history continue to have an impact that transforms us every day..
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