The Instrument of Evolution
While humans are far from the only species to utilize tools, we are by far the most skilled when it comes to not utility but also to building them. Starting off in the Paleolithic, where our ancestors came up with early wooden and stone tools, before mastering ores in the advent of the Bronze Age. However, going from hammering flint and obsidian into shapes to smelting metals requires a brand-new set of tools, with the most important one being the kiln. This is because when dealing with ore s and metal s , a simple bonfire is far from enough to heat the material up to the hundreds of degrees required to melt them . Interestingly, kilns actually predate smithing, as these fires on steroids were used for pottery, as the clay pots needed very high temperatures to harden properly. As such, the technology can be traced as far back as 10,000 years ago, when sedentary societies first formed. Just like everything, these early furnaces were rather simple and extremely unre...
