Article
Article
Prehistoric technology
Article By:
Toth, Nicholas Department of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Blades, Brooke Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.
Wright, Rita P. Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, New York.
Killick, David Department of Anthropology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
Last reviewed:January 2021
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.543250
The set of ideas that prescribe the manufacture and use of implements before written history. Technology is the principal means through which the human species has succeeded in occupying most of the world. The prehistoric record documents that for over 2 million years the human lineage has been making and using implements. Archeologists tend to use the term “artifact” for any material that was modified by ancient humans, whether this material was used or not, and the term “tool” for any material that was used by ancient humans, whether it was modified or not.
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