period and geography: Olduvai stone technology (Oldowan) 2.5 million years ago (scrapers; to butcher dead animals) Huts, 2 million years ago. Acheulean stone technology 1.6 million years ago (hand axe) Fire creation and manipulation, used since the Paleolithic, possibly by Homo erectus as early as 1.5 Million years ago Boats, 900,000 years ago. Cooking, 500,000 years ago. Javelins, 400,000 years ago. (Homo sapiens sapiens – modern human anatomy arises, around 300,000 years ago.) Glue, 200,000 years ago. Clothing possibly 170,000 years ago. Stone tools, used by Homo floresiensis, possibly 100,000 years ago. Harpoons, 90,000 years ago. Bow and arrows, 70,000–60,000 years ago. Sewing needles, 60,000 - 50,000 BC Flutes, 43,000 years ago. Fishing nets, 43,000 years ago. Ropes, 40,000 years ago. Microliths c. 35,000 - 23,000 years ago Ceramics c. 25,000 BC Fishing hooks, C. 23,000 years ago. Domestication of animals, c. 15,000 BC Sling (weapon) c. 9th millennium BC Brick used for construction in the Middle East c. 6000 BC Agriculture and Plough c. 4000 BC Wheel c. 4000 BC Gnomon c. 4000 BC Writing systems c. 3500 BC Copper c. 3200 BC Bronze c. 2500 BC Salt c. 2500 BC Chariot c. 2000 BC Iron c. 1500 BC Sundial c. 800 BC Glass ca. 500 BC Catapult c. 400 BC Cast iron c. 400 BC Horseshoe c. 300 BC Stirrup first few centuries AD Prehistory Stone Age During most of 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 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 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.