What can the Archaeological Record tell us about Human Pre-History?
The systematic study of the pre-historical materials and tools such as stone tools, living debris, food and other elements that give an insight about the human behavior of our ancestors is what is referred to as archaeology. The materials which archeologists use to extract information about their origin and past human behavior for about two million years ago together is referred to as an archaeological record. The archaeological records more or less include the potable items like the simple hammers they used, the baskets they used to carry fruits, non-portable items such as fireplaces, buildings, and the artifacts.
Therefore what can we learn about our ancestors from the archaeological records, they were the hunters and gatherers. The first record is traced back in Tanzania, a place known as Olduvai Gorge were simple tools made of stones which were pointed at one end were found. The anthropologist believes that these simple tools were used to cut and split nuts and fruits; they developed and designed cutting tools with more sharp edges from stones and strong sticks or woods. The sharp tools were also used to cut through flesh, especially from small animals that they used to hunt, for instance, rabbits, birds, and even rodents. The big animals that they hunt giraffe, buffalos, and antelopes they were butchered by sharp flakes like tools.
The records also reveal that the ancestors practiced arts; they practiced agriculture that is planting and maintaining small crops on their homesteads simple gardens. There is little evidence though was not proved empirically or theoretically that they used to plant few crops of medicinal values. They also practiced tool making and designed that they used to draw on the walls of their houses and also the large stones found on hills and valleys. Therefore to conclude it’s through the archaeological record that we have come to learn to allot of our past and present behavior. From the first discovery of the tools up to the present modern machine discovery was made possible by the record that anthropologists used, in other words, we are what our history shaped us.
What prehistoric toys can tell us about human evolution? by Michelle C. Langley
Published in ABC news on Mar 2018 retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-31/old-toys-prehistoric-society-children-archaeology-anthropology