The first technology in the world

[Logios]

I sometimes wonder: What could qualify as the first technology man invented. Is it a sharpened stone, or maybe just a random stone or branch used as a tool. Can the first language be considered a technology, or the first religious beliefs.
hope someone here have some good ideas or some knowledge on the subject.

[Jaketh]

Bow or spear methinks

[Phier]

We had our first technology before we were in fact man.

[John I Tzimisces]

stone tools are generally regarded as the earliest "technology". They aren't as simple as stripping a twig of it's tiny little branches in order to go fishing for termites, like chimps do. Granted, the earliest stone tools (Oldowan tools) really are basically just breaking rock in order to get a sharp edge, but later "traditions" require quite a bit of forethought and abstraction, including but not limited to finding ideal material for both the tool and a hammer stone (or bone, or wood) used to remove the tool, coming up in ones head the size, shape, and purpose of the tool (for instance, in the so-called "Levallois" technology, one gets a stone core, and a hammer stone. The person making the tool first has to shape the core in such a way that it will have striking platforms, that, when struck, shears off a single "flake" or "blade" or "scraper" or "whatever", and other striking platforms, or their easy creation, so as to make the tool making process as efficient as possible), and then going to work on individual tools for the purpose of sharpening or ease of handling.

As Phier mentioned the first tools were indeed in use before our own species. Neanderthals are known to have made spears of sharpened wood hardened over fire. Members of the extinct genus Paranthropus (which we aren't actually descended from) have been associated with, I think, oldowan tools (maybe makes sense, these guys chewed tubers and roots all day, it's possible they were using tools to make life a little easier.)

I'll try and find a list of the dates of technological/cultural inventions, I know I have one around somewhere...

[Tacitursa]

Man made fire was The first technology in the world.

Stone/Wood/Bone were just Stone , Wood and Bone untill they were combined which didnt happen untill after the creation of fire as far as i know.

[Phier]

Man made fire was The first technology in the world.

Stone/Wood/Bone were just Stone , Wood and Bone untill they were combined which didnt happen untill after the creation of fire as far as i know.

Once we began shaping stone into tools its was more than 'just stone'.

The handaxe is the earliest example that comes to mind, wielded by homo erectus.

[♔Goodguy1066♔]

...wielded by homo erectus.

*Snigger*

[Plant]

Man made fire was The first technology in the world.

Stone/Wood/Bone were just Stone , Wood and Bone untill they were combined which didnt happen untill after the creation of fire as far as i know.

I would consider the shaping of any material for the intention of a specific use, and successfully done, to be an example of technology.

[xcorps]

Chimps have been observed to use sticks they sharpen with their teeth for hunting. Gorillas throw clumps of grass and rocks to discourge the inquisitive. No doubt rocks and sticks would have been humans first tools.

[MathiasOfAthens]

That videos awesome Phier I was totally expecting some other Ape to walk up and hit him with a club though.

[Phier]

That videos awesome Phier I was totally expecting some other Ape to walk up and hit him with a club though.

Actually that comes later.

[Tacitursa]

Once we began shaping stone into tools its was more than 'just stone'.

The handaxe is the earliest example that comes to mind, wielded by homo erectus.

It's not really a tool though is it, It's just a sharp stone which they would of found naturally anyway. Just arguing semantics i guess but i think technology should be classed as an original idea from man not just something he's copied and recreated from nature.

[Phier]

It's not really a tool though is it, It's just a sharp stone which they would of found naturally anyway. Just arguing semantics i guess but i think technology should be classed as an original idea from man not just something he's copied and recreated from nature.

It was shaped to cut better, look at it, its not natural, its technology.

[Helm]

To me technology has to be something technical a sharpened stick isn't technical enough. So we're talking about a relatively recent develop from the last couple of thousand years or even the last couple of hundred years.

[Helm]

Chimpanzees can make tools as well but you can't say they're using technology.

[Phier]

Chimpanzees can make tools as well but you can't say they're using technology.

Thats debatable but in the handaxes case its not debatable. They deliberately chose rocks to fit, and then alter them specifically to make them better at cutting using other rocks to create a better cutting edge.

Thats technology.

[Helm]

Pre-homo hominid species could sharpen a bit of stone to cut things with as well but they weren't using technology. Something like an axe is arguably much the same thing better designed and made for the purpose of cutting, the more modern versions using harder more durable materials than the ones they used in the stone age but it's the exact same thing it hasn't really changed that much. So I'm not sure if an axe is technology or it's just a basic cutting tool. Now a chainsaw is a different matter.

[Elfdude]

It's not really debatable with chimps. Monkeys are the earliest known ancestors to use technology. They begin learning from day one which rocks are suitable to use as hammer stones balancing the right weight with the right material. These tools are unnatural in their concentration and movement dictated by the monkey populations who search for nuts that nearly no other animals can take advantage of not having the advantage of technology. Apes take monkey technology a step further. Using sticks which are stripped and sharpened apes begin hunting with spears. Spears are almost certainly the crudest form of technology evolving from crude sticks to reach into narrow openings they become deadly weapons when topped with sharp points. These sharp points are distinctly unnatural. So while there might've been an argument if they were using rocks or sticks already sharp and pointy we have watched them make them. Hence I would call the spear the first true technological tool.

[Helm]

To be technology I think it has to be innovative and it has to advance, chimps don't do anything like that. For much of human history we didn't really have technology either just better made tools, certainly not before the we developed agriculture and civilisation and even then it was very simple technology and slow to advance. It wasn't until around 500 years ago that technological development really kicked off in a big way.

[Elfdude]

To be technology I think it has to be innovative and it has to advance, chimps don't do anything like that. For much of human history we barely did it, certainly not before the we developed agriculture and civilisation and even then it was very simple technology and slow to advance.

You're wrong and debating semantics, hence why I ignored you.