Thousands of years ago, human beings discovered fire and invented tools to light it. Thanks to that they had a more comfortable life and managed to invent other things, such as lamps and metal utensils.
At the beginning, the tools were made with hard stones, which were given useful ways to dig, cut wood and hunt. Later, about 8,000 years ago, it was discovered that the stones contained metals, and that by heating the stones the metal could be extracted. And with the hot metal you could forge tools stronger than the previous ones.
THE BRONZE
About 5,500 years ago, the inhabitants of Mesopotomy, in western Asia, learned to combine metals to obtain stronger ones. With copper and tin they obtained the bronze, which they melted and poured into molds of different shapes. This process is known as molding. From 3,500 a. C. began to use a tool called crucible, which was used to see the bronze in a mold.
THE LIGHT IN ITS BEGINNINGS
The ability to light fires led to the invention of the lamp. The fat of the animals was gathered in a stone or snail and used as fuel. A twisted rope of some material, such as vegetable fibers, was introduced into it, and then ignited. The lamps helped to explore the caverns and to look for coats in them.
STONE TOOLS
To make stone tools it took time and skill. First you had to choose the right kind of stone and then carve it carefully until it was comfortable and had good shape and sharp edges. Archaeologists have discovered several beautiful examples of hand axes.
IRON TOOLS
Around the year 100 d. C., began to hammer the hot metal to shape it. The stones contain iron in mineral form. About 1,900 years ago, the peoples of Asian Mesopotamia discovered that they could extract iron by heat. This process is called casting. To melt iron, more heat was needed than to melt copper, but with iron tools and sharper weapons were made.
