What would happen if you were a prehistoric human?

Humans were at the very bottom of the food chain millions of years ago. The threat of extinction from predators, weather, and diseases existed, but thanks to the Revolution, humans were able to move from hiding in dark caves to developing entire cities. How did that happen? Let's get in our time machine and travel back in time to the prehistoric era. Okay, so what is this strange prehistoric era that you've ended up in? Well, this was a time in history when humans started to develop the world. This mysterious era was a time when history wasn't officially recorded but it brought on a ton of information that would be the building blocks of our world today.

It was made up of the three primary ages that we have today. The names of these eras—the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages—reflected the basic materials that people used to make tools, but these materials also offered much more than just basic tools; they helped people evolve into a new world and inspired a completely new society. Let's take a look. the Age of Stones Three primary eras made up the Stone Age. the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods. The Stone Age, which started over 3 million years ago, was one of the most important periods for human evolution. One of the most important discoveries of this period was the development of stone tools, which early humans started producing and using Sharp Pebbles, which were essentially just sharpened rocks that humans would hold to make more complex and useful tools, were one of their tools made from rocks and other raw materials around them. After humans mastered this, they moved on to sharpening other and their most sophisticated tool was the hand axe, which was made using several techniques. First, the rock had to be formed using a hard Hammer technique, and then the thin edge had to be refined using a soft Hammer technique. Today, these tools appear incredibly simple, and you could make them yourself just by looking at them, but millions of years ago, these instruments needed a thorough comprehension of how Stone Works and how it acts in specific situations. Yes, this sounds extremely basic, but by figuring it out in the Stone Age, humans demonstrated that they had advanced significantly in terms of brain function and problem-solving abilities. During this same period, they also made a significant innovation by learning how to harness fire.

After millions of years of humans fiddling with their newly discovered tools, they were able to become much more than just a hunting and gathering society. This is where farming came into play. Humans in the Mesolithic period started experimenting with planting. Fire provided shelter, warmth, and protection for humans, allowing them to begin their journey to the top of the food chain. In addition, farming led to the domestication of goats, pigs, and cattle, all of which had benefits for humans in the form of food, clothing, and labor. Once farming and domestication took off, humans were able to start building more permanent homes during the Neolithic period, which marked the end of the Stone Age. On top of these inventions, humans learned agricultural techniques and were able to plant enough crops to feed their settlements.

The Bronze Age, which lasted from 3300 to 1200 BCE, was characterized by new tools, technology, a completely different social structure with more food and permanent settlements, a division of labor, political structures, and more. One of the major aspects of this era was humans learning how to use metals like copper, tin, and of course bronze in their tools. With these materials, they were able to create more advanced instruments and weapons that would last longer and could be more interesting because metal is more malleable than stone. This also allowed artisans and experts to start working with bronze, producing sought-after artwork that had a significant cultural impact.

The invention of the wheel made it simpler to move people and supplies and facilitate trade, but bronze materials weren't the only New Kids on the Block at the time. Different settlements were able to share or sell resources with one another, allowing civilization to advance even more quickly. This paved the way for urbanization and the establishment of cities. Cities were eventually created when populations in places like Egypt and Greece grew to such an extent that urban planning was necessary. Trade advanced as society did. During the Bronze Age, writing and administration were all beginning to become important, but without food, none of this could have happened. Humanity began to create methods for mass farming This was made possible by improved tools and a greater understanding of how crops functioned. Humans started to learn which crops grew best in certain locations and during particular seasons. Around 1200 BC, parts of Europe and the Middle East entered the Iron Age, and while this may seem like a small innovation, it allowed society to advance technologically significantly. Because iron is stronger and more resilient than copper, people have been able to create better tools and weapons. For example, if you were in a war and had to fight an army with all iron gear, good luck! The societies with the most iron tooling were the ones in power. Iron was also much more durable, accessible and easier to mine than copper, which made it possible for humans to create more economically viable tools. More tools means more food that can be harvested, more buildings that can be built, and the potential for society to advance and flourish. However, creating these tools also required a great deal of innovation. Large technological advancements were needed to smelt iron and be able to forge and temper the material, but cities were no longer restricted to producing a small number of tools at a time; instead, they were developing into production powerhouses, able to produce dozens or hundreds of tools whenever needed. Iron working became so popular that, over the course of the following few centuries, it spread throughout the world, from Scotland to Africa, as societies started using iron and expanded trade routes helped with the progress more cities and cultures could communicate with each other than ever before the creation of iron tools facilitated the need for different cities to trade and share resources easier to mine learning the methods of building tools this allowed more cities and settlements to progress and prosper Another crucial tool developed at this time was the iron plow, which made it possible for humans to farm crops more successfully than ever before, frequently producing an abundance of food. Naturally, an increase in food supply led to an increase in population. The Iron Age ended around 550 BCE, and the period known as classical Antiquity began when people started writing and recording our own history.

What would happen if we decided to travel even further back in time, to the Cambrian Period, a time before dinosaurs existed? That sounds like a tale for another day. History and the rest is, well, history literally.