117-409: Industrial heritage refers to the physical remains of the history of technology and industry , such as manufacturing and mining sites, as well as power and transportation infrastructure. Another definition expands this scope so that the term also covers places used for social activities related to industry such as housing, museums, education or religious worship, among other structures with values from
234-673: A Wonder of the World . They developed extensive water systems; canals for transport and irrigation in the alluvial south, and catchment systems stretching for tens of kilometers in the hilly north. Their palaces had sophisticated drainage systems. Writing was invented in Mesopotamia, using the cuneiform script. Many records on clay tablets and stone inscriptions have survived. These civilizations were early adopters of bronze technologies which they used for tools, weapons and monumental statuary. By 1200 BC they could cast objects 5 m long in
351-459: A differential gear , and the astrolabe both show great refinement in astronomical science. In other fields, ancient Greek innovations include the catapult and the gastraphetes crossbow in warfare, hollow bronze-casting in metallurgy, the dioptra for surveying, in infrastructure the lighthouse , central heating , a tunnel excavated from both ends by scientific calculations , and the ship trackway . In transport, great progress resulted from
468-795: A 23,000-years-old fisher-hunter-gatherers' camp on the shore of the Sea of Galilee , Northern Israel , provides the earliest evidence for the use of composite cereal harvesting tools. The Ohalo site is at the junction of the Upper Paleolithic and the Early Epipaleolithic , and has been attributed to both periods. The wear traces indicate that tools were used for harvesting near-ripe semi-green wild cereals, shortly before grains are ripe and disperse naturally. The studied tools were not used intensively, and they reflect two harvesting modes: flint knives held by hand and inserts hafted in
585-551: A continued use of stone tools such as a range of projectiles , knives, and scrapers , as well as tools, made from organic materials such as wood, bone, and antler. Stone Age cultures developed music and engaged in organized warfare . Stone Age humans developed ocean-worthy outrigger canoe technology, leading to migration across the Malay Archipelago , across the Indian Ocean to Madagascar and also across
702-623: A corridor between the millet and rice cultivation centres where both rice and millet were cultivated. At around 5,500 to 4,000 BP, there was increasing migration into Taiwan from the early Austronesian Dapenkeng culture , bringing rice and millet cultivation technology with them. During this period, there is evidence of large settlements and intensive rice cultivation in Taiwan and the Penghu Islands , which may have resulted in overexploitation . Bellwood (2011) proposes that this may have been
819-602: A different problem: most of the wild seeds do not germinate in the first year; the first evidence of lentil domestication, breaking dormancy in their first year, appears in the early Neolithic at Jerf el Ahmar (in modern Syria), and lentils quickly spread south to the Netiv HaGdud site in the Jordan Valley . The process of domestication allowed the founder crops to adapt and eventually become larger, more easily harvested, more dependable in storage and more useful to
936-405: A food source, also had to be taken into account. Besides being a direct source of food, certain animals could provide leather, wool, hides, and fertilizer. Some of the earliest domesticated animals included dogs ( East Asia , about 15,000 years ago), sheep, goats, cows, and pigs. West Asia was the source for many animals that could be domesticated, such as sheep, goats and pigs. This area was also
1053-634: A handle. The finds shed new light on cereal harvesting techniques some 8,000 years before the Natufian and 12,000 years before the establishment of sedentary farming communities in the Near East. Furthermore, the new finds accord well with evidence for the earliest ever cereal cultivation at the site and the use of stone-made grinding implements. Agriculture appeared first in West Asia about 2,000 years later, around 10,000–9,000 years ago. The region
1170-767: A highly advantageous geographical location that afforded them a head start in the Neolithic Revolution. Both shared the temperate climate ideal for the first agricultural settings, and both were near a number of easily domesticable plant and animal species. In areas where continents aligned north–south such as the Americas and Africa, crops—and later domesticated animals—could not spread across tropical zones. Agriculture in Neolithic China can be separated into two broad regions, Northern China and Southern China. The agricultural centre in northern China
1287-474: A lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement , making an increasingly large population possible. These settled communities permitted humans to observe and experiment with plants, learning how they grew and developed. This new knowledge led to the domestication of plants into crops . Archaeological data indicates that the domestication of various types of plants and animals happened in separate locations worldwide, starting in
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#17327730689801404-441: A long time to elapse before true tin bronze became widespread. (See: Tin sources and trade in ancient times ) Bronze was a major advancement over stone as a material for making tools, both because of its mechanical properties like strength and ductility and because it could be cast in molds to make intricately shaped objects. Bronze significantly advanced shipbuilding technology with better tools and bronze nails. Bronze nails replaced
1521-551: A means to develop and project economic, political, military power and wealth. Many sociologists and anthropologists have created social theories dealing with social and cultural evolution . Some, like Lewis H. Morgan , Leslie White , and Gerhard Lenski have declared technological progress to be the primary factor driving the development of human civilization. Morgan's concept of three major stages of social evolution (savagery, barbarism , and civilization ) can be divided by technological milestones, such as fire. White argued
1638-487: A narrow optimal climatic range outside of which they cannot grow for reasons of light or rain changes. For instance, wheat does not normally grow in tropical climates, just like tropical crops such as bananas do not grow in colder climates. Some authors, like Jared Diamond , have postulated that this east–west axis is the main reason why plant and animal domestication spread so quickly from the Fertile Crescent to
1755-625: A region is an aspect of its cultural heritage . It also forms part of a location's identity as it serves as evidence of progress and landmark achievements. The international organization dedicated to the study and preservation of such is The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage , known as TICCIH. These initiatives are partly driven by an interest in innovation and ingenuity or efforts to compensate for irreparable loss. This history article
1872-522: A region of the Near East known as the Fertile Crescent. According to the archaeological record this phenomenon, known as "Neolithic", rapidly expanded from these territories into Europe. However, whether this diffusion was accompanied or not by human migrations is greatly debated. Mitochondrial DNA – a type of maternally inherited DNA located in the cell cytoplasm – was recovered from the remains of Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) farmers in
1989-549: A relatively short period of between 20 and 200 years. Some of the pioneering attempts failed at first and crops were abandoned, sometimes to be taken up again and successfully domesticated thousands of years later: rye , tried and abandoned in Neolithic Anatolia , made its way to Europe as weed seeds and was successfully domesticated in Europe, thousands of years after the earliest agriculture. Wild lentils presented
2106-522: A roll and later used for writing. Egyptian society made several significant advances during dynastic periods in many areas of technology. According to Hossam Elanzeery, they were the first civilization to use timekeeping devices such as sundials, shadow clocks, and obelisks and successfully leveraged their knowledge of astronomy to create a calendar model that society still uses today. They developed shipbuilding technology that saw them progress from papyrus reed vessels to cedar wood ships while also pioneering
2223-535: A single piece. Several of the six classic simple machines were invented in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamians have been credited with the invention of the wheel. The wheel and axle mechanism first appeared with the potter's wheel , invented in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) during the 5th millennium BC. This led to the invention of the wheeled vehicle in Mesopotamia during the early 4th millennium BC. Depictions of wheeled wagons found on clay tablet pictographs at
2340-467: A stone very finely. The end of the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago is taken as the end point of the Upper Paleolithic and the beginning of the Epipaleolithic / Mesolithic . The Mesolithic technology included the use of microliths as composite stone tools, along with wood, bone, and antler tools. The later Stone Age, during which the rudiments of agricultural technology were developed,
2457-433: A variety of fields in order to highlight the interdisciplinary character of industrial heritage. It is also argued that it includes the so-called sociofacts or aspects of social and institutional organizations, and mentifacts that constitute the attitudinal characteristics and value systems industrial heritage sites. The scientific study of industrial remains is called industrial archaeology . The industrial heritage of
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#17327730689802574-446: A variety of other crops, dating back to 11,000 BP. Two potentially significant economic species, taro ( Colocasia esculenta ) and yam ( Dioscorea sp.), have been identified dating at least to 10,200 calibrated years before present (cal BP). Further evidence of bananas and sugarcane dates to 6,950 to 6,440 BCE. This was at the altitudinal limits of these crops, and it has been suggested that cultivation in more favourable ranges in
2691-561: A variety of tasks including butchering carcasses (and breaking bones to get at the marrow ); chopping wood; cracking open nuts; skinning an animal for its hide, and even forming other tools out of softer materials such as bone and wood. The earliest stone tools were irrelevant, being little more than a fractured rock. In the Acheulian era, beginning approximately 1.65 million years ago, methods of working these stones into specific shapes, such as hand axes emerged. This early Stone Age
2808-417: Is applied science , technical history is connected to the history of science . Since technology uses resources, technical history is tightly connected to economic history . From those resources, technology produces other resources, including technological artifacts used in everyday life. Technological change affects, and is affected by, a society's cultural traditions. It is a force for economic growth and
2925-479: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . History of technology The history of technology is the history of the invention of tools and techniques by humans. Technology includes methods ranging from simple stone tools to the complex genetic engineering and information technology that has emerged since the 1980s. The term technology comes from the Greek word techne , meaning art and craft, and
3042-810: Is a highly resilient crop, able to grow in varied and marginal environments, such as in regions of high altitude and latitude. Archaeobotanical evidence shows that barley had spread throughout Eurasia by 2,000 BCE. To further elucidate the routes by which barley cultivation was spread through Eurasia, genetic analysis was used to determine genetic diversity and population structure in extant barley taxa. Genetic analysis shows that cultivated barley spread through Eurasia via several different routes, which were most likely separated in both time and space. When hunter-gathering began to be replaced by sedentary food production it became more efficient to keep animals close at hand. Therefore, it became necessary to bring animals permanently to their settlements, although in many cases there
3159-465: Is a measure of technological progress. Productivity increases when fewer inputs (classically labor and capital but some measures include energy and materials) are used in the production of a unit of output. Another indicator of technological progress is the development of new products and services, which is necessary to offset unemployment that would otherwise result as labor inputs are reduced. In developed countries productivity growth has been slowing since
3276-549: Is believed to be the homelands of the early Sino-Tibetan -speakers, associated with the Houli , Peiligang , Cishan , and Xinglongwa cultures , clustered around the Yellow River basin. It was the domestication centre for foxtail millet ( Setaria italica ) and broomcorn millet ( Panicum miliaceum ), with early evidence of domestication approximately 8,000 years ago, and widespread cultivation 7,500 years ago. ( Soybean
3393-568: Is called the Neolithic period. During this period, polished stone tools were made from a variety of hard rocks such as flint , jade , jadeite , and greenstone , largely by working exposures as quarries, but later the valuable rocks were pursued by tunneling underground, the first steps in mining technology. The polished axes were used for forest clearance and the establishment of crop farming and were so effective as to remain in use when bronze and iron appeared. These stone axes were used alongside
3510-468: Is described as the Lower Paleolithic . The Middle Paleolithic , approximately 300,000 years ago, saw the introduction of the prepared-core technique , where multiple blades could be rapidly formed from a single core stone. The Upper Paleolithic , beginning approximately 40,000 years ago, saw the introduction of pressure flaking , where a wood, bone, or antler punch could be used to shape
3627-457: Is in the lower Yangtze River , believed to be the homelands of pre-Austronesians and associated with the Kauhuqiao , Hemudu , Majiabang , and Songze cultures . It is characterized by typical pre-Austronesian features, including stilt houses, jade carving, and boat technologies. Their diet were also supplemented by acorns , water chestnuts , foxnuts , and pig domestication. The second
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3744-611: Is in the middle Yangtze River, believed to be the homelands of the early Hmong-Mien -speakers and associated with the Pengtoushan and Daxi cultures . Both of these regions were heavily populated and had regular trade contacts with each other, as well as with early Austroasiatic speakers to the west, and early Kra-Dai speakers to the south, facilitating the spread of rice cultivation throughout southern China. The millet and rice-farming cultures also first came into contact with each other at around 9,000 to 7,000 BP, resulting in
3861-560: Is limited to Northern Levant and Southern Turkey. A detailed satellite map study of a few archaeological sites in the Baluchistan and Khybar Pakhtunkhwa regions also suggests similarities in early phases of farming with sites in Western Asia. Pottery prepared by sequential slab construction, circular fire pits filled with burnt pebbles, and large granaries are common to both Mehrgarh and many Mesopotamian sites. The postures of
3978-625: Is not customarily used in describing cultures in the Americas. However, a broad similarity exists between Eastern Hemisphere cultures of the Neolithic and cultures in the Americas. Maize (corn), beans and squash were among the earliest crops domesticated in Mesoamerica : squash as early as 6000 BCE, beans no later than 4000 BCE, and maize beginning about 7000 BCE. Potatoes and manioc were domesticated in South America . In what
4095-501: Is now the eastern United States, Native Americans domesticated sunflower , sumpweed and goosefoot c. 2500 BCE . In the highlands of central Mexico, sedentary village life based on farming did not develop until the "formative period" in the second millennium BCE. Evidence of drainage ditches at Kuk Swamp on the borders of the Western and Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea indicates cultivation of taro and
4212-471: Is the earliest Neolithic site in the north-west Indian subcontinent, dated as early as 8500 BCE. Neolithic domesticated crops in Mehrgarh include more than 90% barley and a small amount of wheat. There is good evidence for the local domestication of barley and the zebu cattle at Mehrgarh, but the wheat varieties are suggested to be of Near-Eastern origin, as the modern distribution of wild varieties of wheat
4329-528: The Paleolithic – the bulk of the Stone Age – all humans had a lifestyle which involved limited tools and few permanent settlements. The first major technologies were tied to survival, hunting, and food preparation. Stone tools and weapons, fire , and clothing were technological developments of major importance during this period. Human ancestors have been using stone and other tools since long before
4446-618: The Aegean have been carbon-dated to c. 6500 BCE at Knossos , Franchthi Cave , and a number of mainland sites in Thessaly . Neolithic groups appear soon afterwards in the Balkans and south-central Europe. The Neolithic cultures of southeastern Europe (the Balkans and the Aegean ) show some continuity with groups in southwest Asia and Anatolia (e.g., Çatalhöyük ). Current evidence suggests that Neolithic material culture
4563-564: The Balkans , Asia Minor , Egypt , and the Levant , with Roman Egypt in particular being the wealthiest Roman province outside of Italia. The Roman Empire developed an intensive and sophisticated agriculture, expanded upon existing iron working technology, created laws providing for individual ownership, advanced stone masonry technology, advanced road-building (exceeded only in the 19th century), military engineering, civil engineering, spinning and weaving and several different machines like
4680-503: The Eanna district of Uruk are dated between 3700 and 3500 BC. The lever was used in the shadoof water-lifting device, the first crane machine, which appeared in Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC, and then in ancient Egyptian technology circa 2000 BC. The earliest evidence of pulleys date back to Mesopotamia in the early 2nd millennium BC. The screw , the last of the simple machines to be invented, first appeared in Mesopotamia during
4797-614: The Fertile Crescent , and perhaps 8000 BCE in the Kuk Early Agricultural Site of Papua New Guinea in Melanesia . Everywhere, this transition is associated with a change from a largely nomadic hunter-gatherer way of life to a more settled , agrarian one, with the domestication of various plant and animal species – depending on the species locally available, and influenced by local culture. Archaeological research in 2003 suggests that in some regions, such as
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4914-547: The Fertile Crescent . Many grinding stones are found with the early Egyptian Sebilian and Mechian cultures and evidence has been found of a neolithic domesticated crop-based economy dating around 7,000 BP. Unlike the Middle East, this evidence appears as a "false dawn" to agriculture, as the sites were later abandoned, and permanent farming then was delayed until 6,500 BP with the Tasian culture and Badarian culture and
5031-515: The Gallic reaper that helped to increase productivity in many sectors of the Roman economy. Roman engineers were the first to build monumental arches, amphitheatres , aqueducts , public baths , true arch bridges , harbours , reservoirs and dams, vaults and domes on a very large scale across their Empire. Notable Roman inventions include the book (Codex) , glass blowing and concrete. Because Rome
5148-719: The Kachi plain of Balochistan , Pakistan; the site has evidence of farming (wheat and barley) and herding (cattle, sheep and goats). There is strong evidence for causal connections between the Near-Eastern Neolithic and that further east, up to the Indus Valley. There are several lines of evidence that support the idea of connection between the Neolithic in the Near East and in the Indian subcontinent. The prehistoric site of Mehrgarh in Baluchistan (modern Pakistan)
5265-780: The Levantine corridor that show early evidence of agriculture include Wadi Faynan 16 and Netiv Hagdud . Jacques Cauvin noted that the settlers of Aswad did not domesticate on site, but "arrived, perhaps from the neighbouring Anti-Lebanon , already equipped with the seed for planting" . In the Eastern Fertile Crescent, evidence of cultivation of wild plants has been found in Choga Gholan in Iran dated to 12,000 BP, with domesticated emmer wheat appearing in 9,800 BP, suggesting there may have been multiple regions in
5382-790: The Near East and then compared to available data from other Neolithic populations in Europe and also to modern populations from South Eastern Europe and the Near East. The obtained results show that substantial human migrations were involved in the Neolithic spread and suggest that the first Neolithic farmers entered Europe following a maritime route through Cyprus and the Aegean Islands . The earliest Neolithic sites in South Asia are Bhirrana in Haryana dated to 7570–6200 BCE , and Mehrgarh , dated to between 6500 and 5500 BP, in
5499-559: The Neo-Assyrian period (911–609) BC. The Assyrian King Sennacherib (704–681 BC) claims to have invented automatic sluices and to have been the first to use water screw pumps , of up to 30 tons weight, which were cast using two-part clay molds rather than by the ' lost wax ' process. The Jerwan Aqueduct (c. 688 BC) is made with stone arches and lined with waterproof concrete. The Babylonian astronomical diaries spanned 800 years. They enabled meticulous astronomers to plot
5616-554: The Neolithic package , provided the basis for centralized administrations and political structures, hierarchical ideologies , depersonalized systems of knowledge (e.g. writing ), densely populated settlements, specialization and division of labour , more trade , the development of non-portable art and architecture , and greater property ownership. The earliest known civilization developed in Sumer in southern Mesopotamia ( c. 6,500 BP ); its emergence also heralded
5733-429: The chain pump . In music, the water organ , invented by Ctesibius and subsequently improved, constituted the earliest instance of a keyboard instrument. In time-keeping, the introduction of the inflow clepsydra and its mechanization by the dial and pointer, the application of a feedback system and the escapement mechanism far superseded the earlier outflow clepsydra. Innovations in mechanical technology included
5850-404: The genes of domesticated plants, he preferred theories of a single, or at most a very small number of domestication events for each taxon that spread in an arc from the Levantine corridor around the Fertile Crescent and later into Europe. Gordon Hillman and Stuart Davies carried out experiments with varieties of wild wheat to show that the process of domestication would have occurred over
5967-536: The geological epoch of the Holocene 11,700 years ago, after the end of the last Ice Age. It was humankind's first historically verifiable transition to agriculture. The Neolithic Revolution greatly narrowed the diversity of foods available, resulting in a decrease in the quality of human nutrition compared with that obtained previously from foraging , but because food production became more efficient, it released humans to invest their efforts in other activities and
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#17327730689806084-646: The history of communication . In the first stage, information is passed by genes . In the second, when humans gain sentience , they can learn and pass information through experience. In the third, the humans start using signs and develop logic . In the fourth, they can create symbols, develop language and writing. Advancements in communications technology translate into advancements in the economic system and political system , distribution of wealth , social inequality and other spheres of social life. He also differentiates societies based on their level of technology, communication, and economy: In economics, productivity
6201-480: The sail ). The Egyptians , known for building pyramids centuries before the creation of modern tools, invented and used many simple machines, such as the ramp to aid construction processes. Historians and archaeologists have found evidence that the pyramids were built using three of what is called the Six Simple Machines , from which all machines are based. These machines are the inclined plane ,
6318-521: The wedge , and the lever , which allowed the ancient Egyptians to move millions of limestone blocks which weighed approximately 3.5 tons (7,000 lbs.) each into place to create structures like the Great Pyramid of Giza , which is 481 feet (147 meters) high. They also made writing medium similar to paper from papyrus , which Joshua Mark states is the foundation for modern paper. Papyrus is a plant (cyperus papyrus) which grew in plentiful amounts in
6435-716: The 1st millennium CE, they also colonized Madagascar and the Comoros , bringing Southeast Asian food plants, including rice, to East Africa . On the African continent, three areas have been identified as independently developing agriculture: the Ethiopian highlands , the Sahel and West Africa . By contrast, Agriculture in the Nile River Valley is thought to have developed from the original Neolithic Revolution in
6552-682: The Chinese emperors of the Ming Dynasty also sent large fleets on maritime voyages, some reaching Africa. The Hellenistic period of Mediterranean history began in the 4th century BC with Alexander's conquests , which led to the emergence of a Hellenistic civilization representing a synthesis of Greek and Near-Eastern cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean region, including the Balkans , Levant and Egypt . With Ptolemaic Egypt as its intellectual center and Greek as
6669-468: The Egyptian Delta and throughout the Nile River Valley during ancient times. The papyrus was harvested by field workers and brought to processing centers where it was cut into thin strips. The strips were then laid-out side by side and covered in plant resin. The second layer of strips was laid on perpendicularly, then both pressed together until the sheet was dry. The sheets were then joined to form
6786-619: The Ethiopian highlands. Crops domesticated in the Sahel region include sorghum and pearl millet . The kola nut was first domesticated in West Africa. Other crops domesticated in West Africa include African rice , yams and the oil palm . Agriculture spread to Central and Southern Africa in the Bantu expansion during the 1st millennium BCE to 1st millennium CE. The term "Neolithic"
6903-560: The Fertile Crescent where cereal domestication evolved roughly contemporaneously. The Heavy Neolithic Qaraoun culture has been identified at around fifty sites in Lebanon around the source springs of the River Jordan , but never reliably dated. In his book Guns, Germs, and Steel , Jared Diamond argues that the vast continuous east–west stretch of temperate climatic zones of Eurasia and North Africa gave peoples living there
7020-582: The Neolithic advanced from one patch of fertile alluvial soil to another, bypassing mountainous areas. Analysis of radiocarbon dates show clearly that Mesolithic and Neolithic populations lived side by side for as much as a millennium in many parts of Europe, especially in the Iberian peninsula and along the Atlantic coast. The spread of the Neolithic from the Near East Neolithic to Europe
7137-585: The Pacific Ocean, which required knowledge of the ocean currents, weather patterns, sailing, and celestial navigation . Although Paleolithic cultures left no written records, the shift from nomadic life to settlement and agriculture can be inferred from a range of archaeological evidence. Such evidence includes ancient tools, cave paintings , and other prehistoric art , such as the Venus of Willendorf . Human remains also provide direct evidence, both through
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#17327730689807254-657: The Southeast Asian peninsula, the transition from hunter-gatherer to agriculturalist was not linear, but region-specific. Once agriculture started gaining momentum, around 9000 BP, human activity resulted in the selective breeding of cereal grasses (beginning with emmer , einkorn and barley ), and not simply of those that favoured greater caloric returns through larger seeds. Plants with traits such as small seeds or bitter taste were seen as undesirable. Plants that rapidly shed their seeds on maturity tended not to be gathered at harvest, therefore not stored and not seeded
7371-572: The arrival of crops and animals from the Near East. Bananas and plantains , which were first domesticated in Southeast Asia , most likely Papua New Guinea , were re-domesticated in Africa possibly as early as 5,000 years ago. Asian yams and taro were also cultivated in Africa. The most famous crop domesticated in the Ethiopian highlands is coffee . In addition, khat , ensete , noog , teff and finger millet were also domesticated in
7488-509: The basis of modern food technology processes. Based on paintings and reliefs found in tombs, as well as archaeological artifacts, scholars like Paul T Nicholson believe that the Ancient Egyptians established systematic farming practices, engaged in cereal processing, brewed beer and baked bread, processed meat, practiced viticulture and created the basis for modern wine production, and created condiments to complement, preserve and mask
7605-735: The beginning of the Bronze Age . The relationship of the aforementioned Neolithic characteristics to the onset of agriculture, their sequence of emergence, and their empirical relation to each other at various Neolithic sites remains the subject of academic debate. It is usually understood to vary from place to place, rather than being the outcome of universal laws of social evolution . Prehistoric hunter-gatherers had different subsistence requirements and lifestyles from agriculturalists. Hunter-gatherers were often highly mobile and migratory, living in temporary shelters and in small tribal groups, and having limited contact with outsiders. Their diet
7722-537: The blossoming of a mechanistic philosophy, and the establishment of the Library of Alexandria in Ptolemaic Egypt and its close association with the adjacent museion . In contrast to the typically anonymous inventors of earlier ages, ingenious minds such as Archimedes , Philo of Byzantium , Heron , Ctesibius , and Archytas remain known by name to posterity. Ancient agriculture, as in any period prior to
7839-533: The case of some isolated populations, such as the Spinifex People , the Sentinelese , and various Amazonian tribes, which still make use of Stone Age technology, and have not developed agricultural or metal technology. These villages preserve traditional customs in the face of global modernity, exhibiting a remarkable resistance to the rapid advancement of technology. Before iron smelting was developed
7956-402: The development of agriculture approximately 12,000 years ago. To make a stone tool, a " core " of hard stone with specific flaking properties (such as flint ) was struck with a hammerstone . This flaking produced sharp edges which could be used as tools, primarily in the form of choppers or scrapers . These tools greatly aided the early humans in their hunter-gatherer lifestyle to perform
8073-467: The earliest evidence for advanced planning of plants for food consumption and suggests that humans at Ohalo II processed the grain before consumption. Tell Aswad is the oldest site of agriculture, with domesticated emmer wheat dated to 10,800 BP. Soon after came hulled, two-row barley – found domesticated earliest at Jericho in the Jordan valley and at Iraq ed-Dubb in Jordan . Other sites in
8190-591: The earliest known form of the binary code and epigenetic sequencing, early seismological detectors , matches , paper, Helicopter rotor , Raised-relief map , the double-action piston pump, cast iron , water powered blast furnace bellows , the iron plough , the multi-tube seed drill , the wheelbarrow, the parachute, the compass , the rudder , the crossbow , the South Pointing Chariot and gunpowder. China also developed deep well drilling, which they used to extract brine for making salt. Some of these wells, which were as deep as 900 meters, produced natural gas which
8307-476: The efficiency of the instrumental means of putting the energy to work is increased". Nikolai Kardashev extrapolated his theory, creating the Kardashev scale , which categorizes the energy use of advanced civilizations. Lenski's approach focuses on information. The more information and knowledge (especially allowing the shaping of natural environment ) a given society has, the more advanced it is. He identifies four stages of human development, based on advances in
8424-632: The emergence of Homo sapiens approximately 300,000 years ago. The earliest direct evidence of tool usage was found in Ethiopia within the Great Rift Valley , dating back to 2.5 million years ago. The earliest methods of stone tool making, known as the Oldowan "industry", date back to at least 2.3 million years ago. This era of stone tool use is called the Paleolithic , or "Old stone age", and spans all of human history up to
8541-403: The examination of bones, and the study of mummies . Scientists and historians have been able to form significant inferences about the lifestyle and culture of various prehistoric peoples, and especially their technology. Metallic copper occurs on the surface of weathered copper ore deposits and copper was used before copper smelting was known. Copper smelting is believed to have originated when
8658-626: The first region to domesticate the dromedary . Henri Fleisch discovered and termed the Shepherd Neolithic flint industry from the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon and suggested that it could have been used by the earliest nomadic shepherds . He dated this industry to the Epipaleolithic or Pre-Pottery Neolithic as it is evidently not Paleolithic , Mesolithic or even Pottery Neolithic . The presence of these animals gave
8775-518: The flavors of their food. The Indus Valley civilization , situated in a resource-rich area (in modern Pakistan and northwestern India), is notable for its early application of city planning, sanitation technologies , and plumbing. Indus Valley construction and architecture, called ' Vaastu Shastra ', suggests a thorough understanding of materials engineering, hydrology, and sanitation. The Chinese made many first-known discoveries and developments. Major technological contributions from China include
8892-420: The following season; successive years of harvesting spontaneously selected for strains that retained their edible seeds longer. Daniel Zohary identified several plant species as "pioneer crops" or Neolithic founder crops . He highlighted the importance of wheat, barley and rye, and suggested that domestication of flax , peas , chickpeas , bitter vetch and lentils came a little later. Based on analysis of
9009-417: The fourth, they learn to use the energy of natural resources : coal, oil, gas. In the fifth, they harness nuclear energy . White introduced the formula P=E/T, where P is the development index, E is a measure of energy consumed, and T is the measure of the efficiency of technical factors using the energy. In his own words, "culture evolves as the amount of energy harnessed per capita per year is increased, or as
9126-473: The health of early agriculturalists and their domesticated livestock would have been increased numbers of parasites and disease-bearing pests associated with human waste and contaminated food and water supplies. Fertilizers and irrigation may have increased crop yields but also would have promoted proliferation of insects and bacteria in the local environment while grain storage attracted additional insects and rodents . The term 'neolithic revolution'
9243-563: The human population. Selectively propagated figs , wild barley and wild oats were cultivated at the early Neolithic site of Gilgal I , where in 2006 archaeologists found caches of seeds of each in quantities too large to be accounted for even by intensive gathering , at strata datable to c. 11,000 years ago. Some of the plants tried and then abandoned during the Neolithic period in the Ancient Near East, at sites like Gilgal, were later successfully domesticated in other parts of
9360-638: The impetus of the Austronesian expansion which started with the migration of the Austronesian-speakers from Taiwan to the Philippines at around 5,000 BP. Austronesians carried rice cultivation technology to Island Southeast Asia along with other domesticated species. The new tropical island environments also had new food plants that they exploited. They carried useful plants and animals during each colonization voyage, resulting in
9477-476: The invention of the winch and the odometer . Further newly created techniques and items were spiral staircases , the chain drive , sliding calipers and showers. The Roman Empire expanded from Italia across the entire Mediterranean region between the 1st century BC and 1st century AD. Its most advanced and economically productive provinces outside of Italia were the Eastern Roman provinces in
9594-611: The late 1970s; however, productivity growth was higher in some economic sectors, such as manufacturing. For example, employment in manufacturing in the United States declined from over 30% in the 1940s to just over 10% 70 years later. Similar changes occurred in other developed countries. This stage is referred to as post-industrial . In the late 1970s sociologists and anthropologists like Alvin Toffler (author of Future Shock ), Daniel Bell and John Naisbitt have approached
9711-553: The lingua franca, the Hellenistic civilization included Greek , Egyptian , Jewish, Persian and Phoenician scholars and engineers who wrote in Greek. Hellenistic engineers of the Eastern Mediterranean were responsible for a number of inventions and improvements to existing technology. The Hellenistic period saw a sharp increase in technological advancement, fostered by a climate of openness to new ideas,
9828-602: The lowlands may have been even earlier. CSIRO has found evidence that taro was introduced into the Solomon Islands for human use, from 28,000 years ago, making taro the earliest cultivated crop in the world. It seems to have resulted in the spread of the Trans–New Guinea languages from New Guinea east into the Solomon Islands and west into Timor and adjacent areas of Indonesia . This seems to confirm
9945-410: The measure by which to judge the evolution of culture is energy. For White, "the primary function of culture" is to "harness and control energy." White differentiates between five stages of human development : In the first, people use the energy of their own muscles. In the second, they use the energy of domesticated animals . In the third, they use the energy of plants ( agricultural revolution ). In
10062-444: The modern age the primary mode of production and subsistence, and its irrigation methods, were considerably advanced by the invention and widespread application of a number of previously unknown water-lifting devices, such as the vertical water-wheel , the compartmented wheel, the water turbine , Archimedes' screw , the bucket-chain and pot-garland, the force pump , the suction pump , the double-action piston pump and quite possibly
10179-404: The more effective iron axes increased, providing more farmland to support the growing population. Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and its peoples ( Sumerians , Akkadians , Assyrians and Babylonians ) lived in cities from c. 4000 BC, and developed a sophisticated architecture in mud-brick and stone, including the use of the true arch . The walls of Babylon were so massive they were quoted as
10296-474: The motions of the planets and to predict eclipses. The earliest evidence of water wheels and watermills date back to the ancient Near East in the 4th century BC, specifically in the Persian Empire before 350 BC, in the regions of Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Persia (Iran). This pioneering use of water power constituted the first human-devised motive force not to rely on muscle power (besides
10413-401: The newly devised right-angled gear , which would become particularly important to the operation of mechanical devices. Hellenistic engineers also devised automata such as suspended ink pots, automatic washstands , and doors, primarily as toys, which however featured new useful mechanisms such as the cam and gimbals . The Antikythera mechanism , a kind of analogous computer working with
10530-457: The old method of attaching boards of the hull with cord woven through drilled holes. Better ships enabled long-distance trade and the advance of civilization. This technological trend apparently began in the Fertile Crescent and spread outward over time. These developments were not, and still are not, universal. The three-age system does not accurately describe the technology history of groups outside of Eurasia , and does not apply at all in
10647-563: The only iron was obtained from meteorites and is usually identified by having nickel content. Meteoric iron was rare and valuable, but was sometimes used to make tools and other implements, such as fish hooks. The Iron Age involved the adoption of iron smelting technology. It generally replaced bronze and made it possible to produce tools which were stronger, lighter and cheaper to make than bronze equivalents. The raw materials to make iron, such as ore and limestone, are far more abundant than copper and especially tin ores. Consequently, iron
10764-410: The population expanded and communities developed specialized workers and more advanced tools. The process was not as linear as was once thought, but a more complicated effort, which was undertaken by different human populations in different regions in many different ways. One of the world's most important crops, barley , was domesticated in the Near East around 11,000 years ago (c. 9,000 BCE). Barley
10881-401: The production of surplus food. Other developments that are found very widely during this era are the domestication of animals , pottery , polished stone tools, and rectangular houses. In many regions, the adoption of agriculture by prehistoric societies caused episodes of rapid population growth, a phenomenon known as the Neolithic demographic transition . These developments, sometimes called
10998-545: The rapid introduction of domesticated and semi-domesticated species throughout Oceania . They also came into contact with the early agricultural centres of Papuan -speaking populations of New Guinea as well as the Dravidian -speaking regions of South India and Sri Lanka by around 3,500 BP. They acquired further cultivated food plants like bananas and pepper from them, and in turn introduced Austronesian technologies like wetland cultivation and outrigger canoes . During
11115-429: The region a large advantage in cultural and economic development. As the climate in the Middle East changed and became drier, many of the farmers were forced to leave, taking their domesticated animals with them. It was this massive emigration from the Middle East that later helped distribute these animals to the rest of Afroeurasia . This emigration was mainly on an east–west axis of similar climates, as crops usually have
11232-622: The rest of Eurasia and North Africa, while it did not reach through the north–south axis of Africa to reach the Mediterranean climates of South Africa , where temperate crops were successfully imported by ships in the last 500 years. Similarly, the African Zebu of central Africa and the domesticated bovines of the fertile-crescent – separated by the dry sahara desert – were not introduced into each other's region. Use-wear analysis of five glossed flint blades found at Ohalo II ,
11349-509: The rise of civilizations and technological evolutions . However, higher population and food abundance did not necessarily correlate with improved health. Reliance on a very limited variety of staple crops can adversely affect health even while making it possible to feed more people. Maize is deficient in certain essential amino acids ( lysine and tryptophan ) and is a poor source of iron . The phytic acid it contains may inhibit nutrient absorption . Other factors that likely affected
11466-481: The speed of 0.6–1.3 km/yr (at 95% confidence level). Since the original human expansions out of Africa 200,000 years ago, different prehistoric and historic migration events have taken place in Europe. Considering that the movement of the people implies a consequent movement of their genes, it is possible to estimate the impact of these migrations through the genetic analysis of human populations. Agricultural and husbandry practices originated 10,000 years ago in
11583-410: The technology of pottery kilns allowed sufficiently high temperatures. The concentration of various elements such as arsenic increase with depth in copper ore deposits and smelting of these ores yields arsenical bronze , which can be sufficiently work hardened to be suitable for making tools. Bronze is an alloy of copper with tin; the latter being found in relatively few deposits globally caused
11700-454: The theories of Carl Sauer who, in "Agricultural Origins and Dispersals", suggested as early as 1952 that this region was a centre of early agriculture. Archaeologists trace the emergence of food-producing societies in the Levantine region of southwest Asia at the close of the last glacial period around 12,000 BCE, and developed into a number of regionally distinctive cultures by the eighth millennium BCE. Remains of food-producing societies in
11817-466: The theories of post-industrial societies , arguing that the current era of industrial society is coming to an end, and services and information are becoming more important than industry and goods. Some extreme visions of the post-industrial society, especially in fiction , are strikingly similar to the visions of near and post- singularity societies. The following is a summary of the history of technology by time period and geography: During most of
11934-423: The use of rope trusses and stem-mounted rudders. The Egyptians also used their knowledge of anatomy to lay the foundation for many modern medical techniques and practiced the earliest known version of neuroscience. Elanzeery also states that they used and furthered mathematical science, as evidenced in the building of the pyramids. Ancient Egyptians also invented and pioneered many food technologies that have become
12051-458: The word logos , meaning word and speech. It was first used to describe applied arts , but it is now used to describe advancements and changes that affect the environment around us. New knowledge has enabled people to create new tools, and conversely, many scientific endeavors are made possible by new technologies , for example scientific instruments which allow us to study nature in more detail than our natural senses. Since much of technology
12168-537: The world. Once early farmers perfected their agricultural techniques like irrigation (traced as far back as the 6th millennium BCE in Khuzistan ), their crops yielded surpluses that needed storage. Most hunter-gatherers could not easily store food for long due to their migratory lifestyle, whereas those with a sedentary dwelling could store their surplus grain. Eventually granaries were developed that allowed villages to store their seeds longer. So with more food,
12285-630: Was broomcorn millet , domesticated in East Asia. The earliest evidence of cheese -making dates to 5500 BCE in Kujawy , Poland . The diffusion across Europe, from the Aegean to Britain, took about 2,500 years (8500–6000 BP). The Baltic region was penetrated a bit later, around 5500 BP, and there was also a delay in settling the Pannonian plain . In general, colonization shows a "saltatory" pattern, as
12402-419: Was a distinction between relatively sedentary farmers and nomadic herders. The animals' size, temperament, diet, mating patterns, and life span were factors in the desire and success in domesticating animals. Animals that provided milk, such as cows and goats, offered a source of protein that was renewable and therefore quite valuable. The animal's ability as a worker (for example ploughing or towing), as well as
12519-568: Was also domesticated in northern China 4,500 years ago. Orange and peach also originated in China, being cultivated c. 2500 BCE . ) The agricultural centres in southern China are clustered around the Yangtze River basin. Rice was domesticated in this region, together with the development of paddy field cultivation, between 13,500 and 8,200 years ago. There are two possible centres of domestication for rice. The first
12636-488: Was first studied quantitatively in the 1970s, when a sufficient number of Carbon 14 age determinations for early Neolithic sites had become available. In 1973, Ammerman and Cavalli-Sforza discovered a linear relationship between the age of an Early Neolithic site and its distance from the conventional source in the Near East ( Jericho ), demonstrating that the Neolithic spread at an average speed of about 1 km/yr. More recent studies (2005) confirm these results and yield
12753-665: Was introduced to Europe via western Anatolia. All Neolithic sites in Europe contain ceramics , and contain the plants and animals domesticated in Southwest Asia: einkorn , emmer , barley , lentils , pigs , goats , sheep , and cattle . Genetic data suggest that no independent domestication of animals took place in Neolithic Europe, and that all domesticated animals were originally domesticated in Southwest Asia. The only domesticate not from Southwest Asia
12870-476: Was invented by V. Gordon Childe in his book Man Makes Himself (1936). Childe introduced it as the first in a series of agricultural revolutions in Middle Eastern history, calling it a "revolution" to denote its significance, the degree of change to communities adopting and refining agricultural practices. The beginning of this process in different regions has been dated from 10,000 to 8,000 BCE in
12987-639: Was located on a volcanic peninsula, with sand which contained suitable crystalline grains, the concrete which the Romans formulated was especially durable. Some of their buildings have lasted 2000 years, to the present day. Neolithic Revolution The Neolithic Revolution , also known as the First Agricultural Revolution , was the wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period in Afro-Eurasia from
13104-520: Was not homogeneous. In many Eurasian cultures, the Iron Age was the last major step before the development of written language, though again this was not universally the case. In Europe, large hill forts were built either as a refuge in time of war or sometimes as permanent settlements. In some cases, existing forts from the Bronze Age were expanded and enlarged. The pace of land clearance using
13221-401: Was produced in many areas. It was not possible to mass manufacture steel or pure iron because of the high temperatures required. Furnaces could reach melting temperature but the crucibles and molds needed for melting and casting had not been developed. Steel could be produced by forging bloomery iron to reduce the carbon content in a somewhat controllable way, but steel produced by this method
13338-524: Was the centre of domestication for three cereals (einkorn wheat, emmer wheat and barley), four legumes (lentil, pea, bitter vetch and chickpea), and flax. Domestication was a slow process that unfolded across multiple regions, and was preceded by centuries if not millennia of pre-domestication cultivation. Finds of large quantities of seeds and a grinding stone at the Epipalaeolithic site of Ohalo II , dating to around 19,400 BP, has shown some of
13455-680: Was thus "ultimately necessary to the rise of modern civilization by creating the foundation for the later process of industrialization and sustained economic growth". The Neolithic Revolution involved much more than the adoption of a limited set of food-producing techniques. During the next millennia, it transformed the small and mobile groups of hunter-gatherers that had hitherto dominated human prehistory into sedentary (non- nomadic ) societies based in built-up villages and towns. These societies radically modified their natural environment by means of specialized food-crop cultivation, with activities such as irrigation and deforestation which allowed
13572-536: Was used for evaporating brine. Other Chinese discoveries and inventions from the Medieval period include block printing , movable type printing , phosphorescent paint, endless power chain drive and the clock escapement mechanism. The solid-fuel rocket was invented in China about 1150, nearly 200 years after the invention of gunpowder (which acted as the rocket's fuel). Decades before the West's age of exploration,
13689-794: Was well-balanced though heavily dependent on what the environment could provide each season. In contrast, because the surplus and plannable supply of food provided by agriculture made it possible to support larger population groups, agriculturalists lived in more permanent dwellings in more densely populated settlements than what could be supported by a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. The agricultural communities' seasonal need to plan and coordinate resource and manpower encouraged division of labour , which gradually led to specialization of labourers and complex societies . The subsequent development of trading networks to exchange surplus commodities and services brought agriculturalists into contact with outside groups, which promoted cultural exchanges that led to
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