Editing Tool (section)

=== Timeline of ancient tool development ===
Many tools were made in [[prehistory]] or in the early centuries of recorded history, but archaeological evidence can provide dates of development and use.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hollister-Short |first1=Graham |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/957126707 |title=History of Technology Volume 12. |last2=James |first2=Frank |date=2016 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-350-01858-7 |location=London |oclc=957126707 |access-date=2022-08-29 |archive-date=2022-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829130910/https://www.worldcat.org/title/957126707 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/261324840 |title=Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures |date=2008 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-4425-0 |editor-last=Selin |editor-first=Helaine |edition=2nd |location=Berlin |oclc=261324840 |access-date=2022-08-29 |archive-date=2022-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829130911/https://www.worldcat.org/title/261324840 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Headrick |first=Daniel R. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/320625444 |title=Technology: a world history |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-971366-0 |location=Oxford |oclc=320625444 |access-date=2022-08-29 |archive-date=2022-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829130911/https://www.worldcat.org/title/320625444 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Div col|colwidth=27em}}
* [[Olduvai Gorge|Olduvai]] [[stone technology]] ([[Oldowan]]) 2.5&nbsp;million years ago (scrapers; to butcher dead animals)
* [[Hut]]s, 2 million years ago.
* [[Acheulean]] stone technology 1.6&nbsp;million years ago (hand axe)
* [[Fire]] creation and manipulation, used since the [[Paleolithic]], possibly by [[Homo erectus]] as early as [[1 E13 s|1.5 Million years ago]]
* [[Boat]]s, 900,000 years ago.
* [[Cooking]], 500,000 years ago.
* [[Javelin]]s, 400,000 years ago.
* [[adhesive|Glue]], 200,000 years ago.
* [[Clothing]] possibly 170,000 years ago.
* [[Stone tool]]s, used by [[Homo floresiensis]], possibly [[1 E12 s|100,000&nbsp;years ago]].
* [[Harpoon]]s, 90,000 years ago.
* [[Bow and arrow]]s, 70,000–60,000 years ago.
* [[Sewing needle]]s, 60,000 – 50,000 BC
* [[Flute]]s, 43,000 years ago.
* [[Fishing net]]s, 43,000 years ago.
* [[Rope]]s, 40,000 years ago.
* [[Ceramic]]s {{circa|25,000&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Fish hook|Fishing hook]]s, {{circa|23,000 years ago}}.
* [[Domestication]] of animals, {{circa|15,000&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Sling (weapon)]] {{circa|9th millennium&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Microlith]]s {{circa|9th millennium&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Brick]] used for construction in the Middle East {{circa|6000&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Agriculture]] and [[Plough]] {{circa|4000&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Wheel]] {{circa|4000&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Gnomon]] {{circa|4000&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Writing system]]s {{circa|3500&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Copper]] {{circa|3200 BC}}
* [[Bronze]] {{circa|2500&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Salt]] {{circa|2500&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Chariot]] {{circa|2000&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Iron]] {{circa|1500&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Sundial]] {{circa|800&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Glass]] {{circa|500&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Catapult]] {{circa|400&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Cast iron]] {{circa|400&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Horseshoe]] {{circa|300&nbsp;BC}}
* [[Stirrup]] first few centuries&nbsp;AD

{{Div col end}}Several of the six classic [[simple machines]] ([[wheel and axle]], [[lever]], [[pulley]], [[inclined plane]], [[Wedge (mechanical device)|wedge]], and [[Screw (simple machine)|screw]]) were invented in [[Mesopotamia]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moorey |first1=Peter Roger Stuart |title=Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence |date=1999 |publisher=[[Eisenbrauns]] |isbn=9781575060422}}</ref> The wheel and axle mechanism first appeared with the [[potter's wheel]], invented in what is now Iraq during the 5th millennium BC.<ref>{{cite book |author=D.T. Potts |title=A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East |year=2012 |page=285}}</ref> This led to the invention of the [[wheeled vehicle]] in Mesopotamia during the early 4th millennium BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Attema |first1=P. A. J. |last2=Los-Weijns |first2=Ma |last3=Pers |first3=N. D. Maring-Van der |date=December 2006 |title=Bronocice, Flintbek, Uruk, JEbel Aruda and Arslantepe: The Earliest Evidence Of Wheeled Vehicles In Europe And The Near East |journal=Palaeohistoria |publisher=[[University of Groningen]] |volume=47/48 |pages=10–28 (11)}}</ref> The [[lever]] was used in the [[shadoof]] water-lifting device, the first [[Crane (machine)|crane]] machine, which appeared in Mesopotamia {{circa|3000 BC}},<ref>{{cite book |last1=Paipetis |first1=S. A. |title=The Genius of Archimedes – 23 Centuries of Influence on Mathematics, Science and Engineering: Proceedings of an International Conference held at Syracuse, Italy, June 8–10, 2010 |last2=Ceccarelli |first2=Marco |date=2010 |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |isbn=9789048190911 |page=416}}</ref> and then in [[ancient Egyptian technology]] {{circa|2000 BC}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Faiella |first1=Graham |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGMyBTS0-v0C&pg=PA27 |title=The Technology of Mesopotamia |date=2006 |publisher=[[The Rosen Publishing Group]] |isbn=9781404205604 |page=27 |access-date=2022-08-29 |archive-date=2020-01-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103045623/https://books.google.com/books?id=bGMyBTS0-v0C&pg=PA27 |url-status=live }}</ref> The earliest evidence of [[pulley]]s date back to Mesopotamia in the early 2nd millennium BC.<ref name="Eisenbrauns">{{cite book |last1=Moorey |first1=Peter Roger Stuart |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientmesopotam00moor |title=Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence |date=1999 |publisher=[[Eisenbrauns]] |isbn=9781575060422 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientmesopotam00moor/page/n12 4] |url-access=limited}}</ref>

The [[Screw (simple machine)|screw]], the last of the simple machines to be invented,<ref name="Woods">{{cite book |last=Woods |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E1tzW_aDnxsC&pg=PA58 |title=Ancient Machines: From Wedges to Waterwheels |author2=Mary B. Woods |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |year=2000 |isbn=0-8225-2994-7 |location=USA |pages=58 |access-date=2022-08-29 |archive-date=2020-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104003216/https://books.google.com/books?id=E1tzW_aDnxsC&pg=PA58 |url-status=live }}</ref> first appeared in Mesopotamia during the [[Neo-Assyrian]] period (911–609 BC).<ref name="Eisenbrauns" /> The Assyrian King [[Sennacherib]] (704–681&nbsp;BC) claims to have invented automatic sluices and to have been the first to use water [[screw pump]]s, of up to 30 tons weight, which were cast using two-part clay molds rather than by the '[[Lost-wax casting|lost wax]]' process.<ref name="Dalley2013">S Dalley, ''The Mystery of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon'', Oxford University Press(2013)</ref> The Jerwan Aqueduct ({{circa|688&nbsp;BC)}} is made with stone arches and lined with waterproof concrete.<ref>T Jacobsen and S Lloyd, ''Sennacherib's Aqueduct at Jerwan'', Chicago University Press, (1935)</ref> The earliest evidence of [[water wheel]]s and [[watermill]]s date back to the [[ancient Near East]] in the 4th century BC,<ref>Terry S. Reynolds, ''Stronger than a Hundred Men: A History of the Vertical Water Wheel'', JHU Press, 2002 {{ISBN|0-8018-7248-0}}, p. 14</ref> specifically in the [[Persian Empire]] before 350&nbsp;BC, in the regions of Mesopotamia (Iraq) and [[Persia]] (Iran).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Selin |first1=Helaine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GzjpCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA282 |title=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Westen Cultures |date=2013 |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |isbn=9789401714167 |page=282 |access-date=2022-08-29 |archive-date=2022-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409225100/https://books.google.com/books?id=GzjpCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA282 |url-status=live }}</ref> This pioneering use of [[water power]] constituted perhaps the first use of [[mechanical energy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/waterwheel-engineering|title=Waterwheel &#124; History, Types & Uses|website=Britannica}}</ref>

[[Mechanics|Mechanical]] devices experienced a major expansion in their use in [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome]] with the systematic employment of new energy sources, especially [[waterwheel]]s. Their use expanded through the [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]] with the addition of [[windmill]]s.