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Scientists built their own Stone Age tools to figure out how they were used

arstechnica.com

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Re: Scientists built their own Stone Age tools to figure out how they were used

#31

Post by ahazred8ta »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #8

Obligatory link to Primitive Technology on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@primitivetechnology9550 Although, he doesn't recreate past technology - I think he researches what technology could have existed, given the knowledge of our time. Things like his blowers, and his iron smelting processes. Of course, there's only so much you can do with rocks & sticks, so most of what he makes ends up being pretty similar to h…

There was one fellow who smelted copper ore and tin ore, made copper wire and a vinegar battery, and made a working telegraph that could have been built any time since 3000 BC.

Re: Scientists built their own Stone Age tools to figure out how they were used

#32

Post by WalterBright »

ahazred8ta wrote: post #31
pavel_lishin wrote: post #8

Obligatory link to Primitive Technology on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@primitivetechnology9550 Although, he doesn't recreate past technology - I think he researches what technology could have existed, given the knowledge of our time. Things like his blowers, and his iron smelting processes. Of course, there's only so much you can do with rocks & sticks, so most of what he makes ends up being pretty similar to h…

There was one fellow who smelted copper ore and tin ore, made copper wire and a vinegar battery, and made a working telegraph that could have been built any time since 3000 BC.

To make use of telegraphy, one would need to know how to read & write. The most useful inventions in history:

1. reading & writing

2. paper

3. printing press

4. computers & networking

Note that they're all about preserving and sharing information.

Re: Scientists built their own Stone Age tools to figure out how they were used

#33

Post by WalterBright »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #11

I’ve found myself infected with a desire to have a machine shop. I don’t exactly know what I’d use it for, but there’s something so cool about making your own stuff. This fellow inherited his grandfather’s machine shop https://youtu.be/hearLttbrLo?si=r2CHxdepmhQ71xJq and used it to make… a pen. https://youtu.be/j27RKTHMLkA?si=f5OPN7ZJ10EBSZa4 And it’s an addiction I didn’t know I had. The gateway drug that led to all…

I remember an old Amateur Scientist article from Scientific American way back which showed how to build a gas liquifier with a refrigerator compressor. I tried to build a couple of the AS projects, but my fab skills as a kid were sorely lacking.

Re: Scientists built their own Stone Age tools to figure out how they were used

#34

Post by WalterBright »

narag wrote: post #30
matt3210 wrote: post #9

Who first decided to melt the rocks and get the iron?

The moment men learned to make fire, be sure there was some guy there that put everything to the fire to see what happened. How do I know? I would have been that guy.

We seem to have something in common!

Re: Scientists built their own Stone Age tools to figure out how they were used

#35

Post by [deleted] »

fbdab103 wrote: post #24

Reminded of the 2013 Ignoble award[0] where someone ate a shrew to determine what remains would be available for study. ARCHAEOLOGY PRIZE: Brian Crandall [USA] and Peter Stahl [CANADA, USA], for parboiling a dead shrew, and then swallowing the shrew without chewing, and then carefully examining everything excreted during subsequent days — all so they could see which bones would dissolve inside the human digestive sys…

[deleted]

Re: Scientists built their own Stone Age tools to figure out how they were used

#36

Post by WalterBright »

rvense wrote: post #5
Izkata wrote: post #2

Title made me think "isn't 'try them out' usually one of the first steps?" Actual content: They tested damage patterns on the tools to find what the tools were used on.

I live near an experimental archaeological centre with roots going back to the 60's. I read a book by one of the founders, where he relates making his first flint axe at approximately age 16 and being so excited he went straight to the garden and cut down a tree - without asking for permission first... thankfully he had very supportive parents.

Was it a cherry tree he chopped down?

Re: Scientists built their own Stone Age tools to figure out how they were used

#37

Post by WalterBright »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #11

I’ve found myself infected with a desire to have a machine shop. I don’t exactly know what I’d use it for, but there’s something so cool about making your own stuff. This fellow inherited his grandfather’s machine shop https://youtu.be/hearLttbrLo?si=r2CHxdepmhQ71xJq and used it to make… a pen. https://youtu.be/j27RKTHMLkA?si=f5OPN7ZJ10EBSZa4 And it’s an addiction I didn’t know I had. The gateway drug that led to all…

> who made a vacuum pump out of a refrigerator compressor

Lex Luthor made an atomic pile out of a sand pile.

Re: Scientists built their own Stone Age tools to figure out how they were used

#38

Post by 0_____0 »

WalterBright wrote: post #32
ahazred8ta wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was one fellow who smelted copper ore and tin ore, made copper wire and a vinegar battery, and made a working telegraph that could have been built any time since 3000 BC.

To make use of telegraphy, one would need to know how to read & write. The most useful inventions in history: 1. reading & writing 2. paper 3. printing press 4. computers & networking Note that they're all about preserving and sharing information.

agriculture

Re: Scientists built their own Stone Age tools to figure out how they were used

#39

Post by dgfitz »

narag wrote: post #30
matt3210 wrote: post #9

Who first decided to melt the rocks and get the iron?

The moment men learned to make fire, be sure there was some guy there that put everything to the fire to see what happened. How do I know? I would have been that guy.

I recently had to “fix” my company-appointed laptop by opening it up and re-seating the battery. A co-worker made a comment: you’re not a software engineer, you’re a computer engineer. To which I replied: nah, I was just a kid who really liked taking things apart so I could learn how they worked.

Re: Scientists built their own Stone Age tools to figure out how they were used

#40

Post by [deleted] »

fbdab103 wrote: post #24

Reminded of the 2013 Ignoble award[0] where someone ate a shrew to determine what remains would be available for study. ARCHAEOLOGY PRIZE: Brian Crandall [USA] and Peter Stahl [CANADA, USA], for parboiling a dead shrew, and then swallowing the shrew without chewing, and then carefully examining everything excreted during subsequent days — all so they could see which bones would dissolve inside the human digestive sys…

[deleted]
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