It was my first year in middle school. It wasn’t the greatest thing in the world, but I had finally started to develop a sense of connection to the people and things around me. I was learning about my interests (pizza and dodge ball) and my disinterests (video games and spinach soup). During these years, I experimented with scrap making it my purpose to create something out of nothing. I would bend, cut, screw, weld, and much of the time end up hurting myself trying to make a vision into a reality. Surprisingly, back in 10,000 BC cavemen were doing very similar things. The cave man's first inventions included the hunting club and the sharpened-stone. These tools became the all-purpose skinning and killing survival tools of their time. The sharpened stone later became the first writing instrument. Cavemen scratched drawings representing events in daily life such as the planting of crops or hunting victories they experienced. The history of writing instruments by which humans have recorded and conveyed thoughts, feelings and grocery lists, is the history of civilization itself. This is how we know the story of us, by the drawings, signs and words we have recorded. It is without doubt that these utensils have evolved into being integral parts of our lives, and furthermore, have allowed us to grow smarter and more productive as people. In this paper, I will discuss the extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal of a common consumer item; the Ticonderoga number two pencil.
Although the number two pencil looks like a simplistic utensil, its production involves a meticulous machining process. Making a pencil begins with a mixture of graphite, and a smaller amount of clay and water. Graphite is produced using carbo...
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...ion. But in the end the disposal of the number two pencil is much easily taken care of then the extraction and production of the materials necessary to produce it are.
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To start with, the first separation technique we performed on the heterogeneous mixture was filtration. According to our observations of the residue, we believed graphite was one of the substances in the mixture. Graphite, a known ingredient used in pencils, is black or dark grey in color, like the dark spots on the filter paper (Figure 1B), and has the ability to leave marks on paper and other objects. Of the potential components given to us, only graphite possessed the ability to make a mark on other surfaces. This was supported by the smudges left behind on our finger and filter paper (Figure 1A, bottom filter paper) when we touched the residue.
Humans are not the only species with the ability of making tools. Early on in her research, Jane Goodall observed an older male chimp, she called him David Greybeard. Through her observation of David, she witnessed two forms of the use of tools. The first was the use of grass as a tool to extract termites from their mounds. The second was the making of a tool by stripping the leaves off a twig, modifying it for the same purpose. When Louis Leakey heard this, he wrote her “Now we must redefine tool, redefine man, or except chimpanzees as humans” (Goodall, 2002). There is a definite correlation between man and chimps in this respect. Human culture involves learned behaviors through observation, imitation and practice, the use of tools with chimpanzees show the same ability for learned beh...
1. In each case, is the ink a pure substance (based on your results)? Why or why not?
In the essay from Pencils to Pixels, Dennis Baron details the world’s journey from the use and making of the pencil to the computer. Barron states that the pencil wasn’t originally intended to be used as a writing device. There’s a bit of information you probably hadn’t heard before. Yes, pencils were actually adopted as a tool by “note takers.. ..scientists...and others who need to write”. They were taken from artists and adapted it for use as a writing tool ( Dennis Barron 44).
Several dozen European-style stone tools, dating back between 19,000 and 26,000 years, have been discovered at six locations along the U. S. East Coast. What’s more, chemical analysis carried out on a 19,000 year old stone knife found in Virginia, USA revealed that it ...
At this point in the Paleolithic Era, technology and politics coexisted in harmony; one did not dominate the other, nor did one influence the other. Their technology was simple. The...
Harris, T. (n.d.). how body armor works. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from How stuff works: http://schienc.howstuffworks.com/body-armor.htm
Marshack, Alexander. The Roots of Civilization: the Cognitive Beginnings of Man's First Art, Symbol and Notation. Mount Kisco, N.Y.: Moyer Bell, 1991. Print.
After looking at the art belonging to the Upper Paleolithic period Handprint at Pech-Merle, Dordogne, France it is safe to say that artists had a sense of ownership of their art. In the piece there were found several hand prints, which was a common thing for the Paleolithic art (Pech-Merle, 29). Based on a different work of art presenting in the book and during class lectures it is clear that the social hierarchy was not defined very well back then. It seems that people were all doing the same thing collectively as a community, looking for resources to make food, tools and some art. The cave paintings are a significant source proving how art was a part of everyday life routine, it was a hunting ritual. According to the textbook “Henri Breuil, believed such hand prints may have been made during initiation ceremony”(Pech-Merle,30). Perhaps, the hand prints on the painting indicated the spiritual connection between the hunter and the animal.
“Stone Age Toolkit." America's Stone Age Explorers. PBS, Sept. 2004. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. .
An important communication tool was utilized during the Neolithic time. Cave drawings are essential to archeologists today because it is man’s method to illustrate the story of evolution. The symbols, colors, and locations will catch the eye of many, but the ultimate question still remains. How do the cave and rock drawings connect to the prehistoric times? Why is it important? Where is it located? The importance of Art presents archeologist with a picture into the Past. From Cave and rock art, to the preservation of the paintings, to finally the meaning behind the art, archeologists then can discover how people lived and what it was like back then.
Despite not having an established society or economy, man in the Paleolithic Age had increasing technology. Their weapons and tools were made of wood and stone, and they had manifested the ability to control fire. The Paleolithic Age also berthed language and thus established the first historical backgrounds of modern man. Paleolithic art gives the background for the culture of the time. Depicting a society classed only by sex: Men hunted, made weaponry and tools, and fought other nomadic bands; Women gathered, made clothing, and bore children.
Although there were many advances before this period, the upper paleolithic brought us traditions which form the basis of modern art. While artistic expression undoubtedly occurred before this time period, it is extremely apparent that art was flourishing during the upper paleolithic. For example, cave paintings, such as those found in the Cave of Lascaux, become more prominent (Price & Feinman, 2013). The depictions of every day life for the people living in this era shows a need for humans to express themselves to others visually in ways that had not been done before. Upon analyzing sites like the Cave of Lascaux and others, such as La Vache, it is apparent that humans have a shared need for artistic expression as a form of communication and historical record, a way of saying “I was here.” This is a trait that remains very prominent within us to this day, influencing modern art, music, speech - almost any form of artistic expression. All modern art forms can, in one way or another, trace their roots back to this early art and the need to express aspects of daily life to others.
Woodworking, a form of carpentry, has been around for centuries and overtime developed into a more modern art. Today people will mostly see woodwork in homes in the form of furniture and decorations, or even smaller things such as family heirlooms passed down by generations and simple crafts made by younger generations. The skill of woodworking, however, is not inherited but takes practice and years of experience to fully master. Even experienced woodworkers run into challenges sometimes. The key is to overcome that obstacle and find different ways to create something new from a piece of wood. It is interesting to see and go through the process in which a woodworker goes through
About fifty thousand years ago, the human cultures started to be more and more similar to modern culture. The hominids killed animals not only to feed themselves but also for the production of clothing (Pickrell, 2006). The hominids had the sense of shame. They used hides to cover their body. Besides, the hominids have the thought to bury their companions (Pickrell, 2006). It is an idea of group or family. With the final formation of human society, people developed and valued quickly. The oldest cave painting had more than thirty-three thousand years’ history (Pickrell, 2006). It is the proof of original humans’ pursuit of art. Almost ten thousand years ago, the systematic agriculture appeared, developed and spread with an amazing speed (Pickrell, 2006). Humans started to plant cereal and raise and train livestock. After that, the Bronze Age carried on the Stone Age (Pickrell, 2006). The change of tool materials helped people have higher efficiency when they were working. At the same time, the first recorded human culture appeared in Mesopotamia (Pickrell, 2006). Until this time point, human beings finished their evolution from ancient apes to modern humans. The process, which had experienced more than hundreds million years, was the most wonderful evolution on the