Extensions of the Body

Abstract

This chapter is all about materials, starting with materials for clothing, later for shelter, and finally for tools and weapons. It began with the use of animal skins for furs, then for leather (after the discovery of tanning), and then for fiber (wool) to make fabric. Fibers from plants may have been used at first, for ropes or twine, but subsequently the introduction of spinning and weaving produced light, strong fabrics, for clothing and decoration. The first shelter was probably caves, but at some point our ancestors learned how to make bricks from dried mud and later to cut stone. Stone cutting led to walls and settlements and finally to architecture. When the ancestors of humans first became hunters, their teeth were for chewing but not for killing or ripping the bodies of prey. Lacking those natural weapons, our ancestors developed substitutes, starting with clubs, knives and daggers, then sharp-pointed spears for defense and later for attack by throwing and finally arrows for shooting and killing, at a distance. The first developments of metallurgy were alloys (bronze) for weapons of war, both as armor for personal protection, and knives and swords, and finally firearms. The chapter ends with fireworks, rockets, and gunpowder.