Freaks Fun Friday: Stone Age Tools and Weapons

I am a freak, I admit it. When I was younger, I actually enjoyed going to school (go ahead, laugh at me) — not because I wanted to meet my friends, but because I loved learning new stuff. It hasn’t changed all that much. I’m still delighted if I manage to smuggle facts into my stories without anyone noticing. at this place, I’ll give you access to my twisted mind. Welcome to a Freak’s Fun Friday.

My first encounter with the Stone Age was a flint arrowhead I found in our garden when I was 6ish. Unfortunately, over the years (and several moves) I lost it. I bugged my dad for information. Why would anyone use stone weapons? How did they make them?

This is how scientists think humans made stone tools. The picture is by José-Manuel Benito Álvarez.

It thrilled me when I found out that stone tools are just as sharp as metal ones although they splinter more easily and blunt faster. I stood in awe when my parents took me to an exhibition and I saw my first axe. I had never thought it possible to cut down a tree with a small stone embedded in a piece of wood.

The picture, taken by Bullenwächter via Wikimedia Commons, shows an axe with a copper blade, but the stone axes looked just the same. I couldn’t find a fitting picture

But what surprises me to this day is the long time humans have been using tools. The oldest stone tools have been found in Africa, and they’re 2.6 million years old. OK, compared to the age of dinosaur fossils that’s young, but if I use a human life in comparison…

By the end of the Stone Age, humans (our ancestors to be precise) had developed the making and use of their tools to perfection. There were trade routes from the North (where they had big flint mines) to the South, and from Europe all through Asia. Traders walked from village to village swapping stone tools for furs, pots, herbs or jewellery.

Whenever I think about this time my Muse goes into overdrive bombarding me with new ideas of stories I should write. It’s so much, I can’t keep up with them all. But one story I did write. Juma’s Rain is about an ambitious young girl dreaming to become the next chieftess of her tribe, but forced to become the village witch’s apprentice.

Tell me, are there time periods you are specifically interested in? have you discovered that there are stories in history? Let me know in the comments.