Primitive Fire Making Tools
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The control of fire - approximately 400,000 years ago, maybe even earlier, was a turning point in human evolution. Fire allowed humans to cook wild plants and roots, making them tender and more digestible. Cooked meat, fish, shells and insects were also more nutritious, and much safer to eat. The fire allowed warmth and protection from predators, it smoke kept nsects away.
Smoldering bushes and trees have more likely been the first resources exploited by early humans to get fire. Over time, various firemaking techniques were developed around the world; the hand and bow drills, the fire plow, the fire piston. These techniques were so efficient that they are still commonly used today by indigenous peoples, modern outdoorsmen, and survival training class teachers. Using flint and steel to produce sparks came later (approx. 1200 BC), they were still the most common fire making tools of 19th century society. Matches made their first timid apparition around 1889, the modern Zippo lighter was born in 1932. |
Assiniboine Tipis
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