History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c10.s1.t1.1

v1.c10.s1.t1.1

Tool making in human history was initiated at about 1.8 to 2 million years ago. The Pleistocene sequence and the absolute dates, which are obtained from the Olduvai Gorge and other sites of East Africa, provide evidence for this incident (Leakey L.S.B., 1965; Clark, 1982, ‘pp. 30-34). The earliest form which man made was, one edged crude chopping or cutting implement (Leakey L.S.B., 1951). The only effort made in this case was to acquire an edge on small to medium sized pebble or cobble. Flaking of one surface (unifacial) at an end of the select piece of rock, or from both the surfaces (bifacial) of the same edge (Fig.1), could provide the desired form of working implement.