Editing Technology (section)

=== Neolithic ===
{{Main|2 = Neolithic Revolution}}
[[File:Néolithique 0001.jpg|thumb|An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools|alt=Photo of Neolithic tools on display]]

The [[Neolithic Revolution]] (or ''First Agricultural Revolution'') brought about an acceleration of technological innovation, and a consequent increase in social complexity.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2D8OBwAAQBAJ&dq=neolithic+revolution+social+organization&pg=PA3 |title=Life in Neolithic Farming Communities: Social Organization, Identity, and Differentiation |publisher=Springer New York |year=2002 |isbn=9780306471667 |editor-last=Kuijt |editor-first=i. |series=Fundamental Issues in Archaeology |access-date=13 September 2022 |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004184244/https://books.google.com/books?id=2D8OBwAAQBAJ&dq=neolithic+revolution+social+organization&pg=PA3 |url-status=live }}</ref> The invention of the polished [[Hand axe|stone axe]] was a major advance that allowed large-scale [[forest clearance]] and farming.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Coghlan |first=H. H. |date=1943 |title=The Evolution of the Axe from Prehistoric to Roman Times |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2844356 |journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=73 |issue=1/2 |pages=27–56 |doi=10.2307/2844356 |jstor=2844356 |issn=0307-3114 |access-date=26 September 2022 |archive-date=26 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926011626/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2844356 |url-status=live }}</ref> This use of polished stone axes increased greatly in the Neolithic but was originally used in the preceding [[Mesolithic]] in some areas such as Ireland.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Driscoll|first1=Killian|title=The early prehistory in the west of Ireland: Investigations into the social archaeology of the Mesolithic, west of the Shannon, Ireland|date=2006|url=http://lithicsireland.ie/mlitt_mesolithic_west_ireland_chap_2.html|access-date=11 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904110326/http://lithicsireland.ie/mlitt_mesolithic_west_ireland_chap_2.html|archive-date=4 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Agriculture fed larger populations, and the transition to [[sedentism]] allowed for the simultaneous raising of more children, as infants no longer needed to be carried around by [[nomad]]s. Additionally, children could contribute labor to the raising of crops more readily than they could participate in [[hunter-gatherer]] activities.<ref name=20060104sciencedaily>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060103114116.htm|title=The First Baby Boom: Skeletal Evidence Shows Abrupt Worldwide Increase In Birth Rate During Neolithic Period|last=University of Chicago Press Journals|date=4 January 2006|work=ScienceDaily|access-date=7 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108133752/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060103114116.htm|archive-date=8 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Child Transport, Family Size, and Increase in Human Population During the Neolithic|journal=[[Current Anthropology]]|author=Sussman, Robert W. |author2=Hall, Roberta L. |volume=13|issue=2| pages=258–267|date=April 1972|doi=10.1086/201274 |jstor=2740977|s2cid=143449170}}</ref>

With this increase in population and availability of labor came an increase in [[labor specialization]].<ref>{{cite book|access-date=17 May 2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isGyuX9motEC&q=labor+neolithic+population&pg=PA163|title=Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective|publisher=[[The Thomson Corporation]]|author=Ferraro, Gary P.|year=2006|isbn=978-0495030393|archive-date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331145412/https://books.google.com/books?id=isGyuX9motEC&q=labor+neolithic+population&pg=PA163|url-status=live}}</ref> What triggered the progression from early Neolithic villages to the first cities, such as [[Uruk]], and the first civilizations, such as [[Sumer]], is not specifically known; however, the emergence of increasingly [[hierarchical]] social structures and specialized labor, of trade and war among adjacent cultures, and the need for collective action to overcome environmental challenges such as [[irrigation]], are all thought to have played a role.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pKKwlEcpwYC&q=labor+surplus+neolithic+population&pg=PA7|access-date=17 May 2008|title=The Essentials of Ancient History|publisher=Research & Education Association|author=Patterson, Gordon M.|year=1992|isbn=978-0878917044|archive-date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331145419/https://books.google.com/books?id=8pKKwlEcpwYC&q=labor+surplus+neolithic+population&pg=PA7|url-status=live}}</ref>

The invention of [[History of writing|writing]] led to the spread of cultural knowledge and became the basis for history, [[libraries]], schools, and [[scientific]] research.<ref>{{cite book |last=Goody |first=J. |date=1986 |title=The Logic of Writing and the Organization of Society |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}</ref>

Continuing improvements led to the [[Metallurgical furnace|furnace]] and [[bellows]] and provided, for the first time, the ability to [[smelting|smelt]] and [[forging|forge]] gold, copper, silver, and lead{{spaced ndash}}native metals found in relatively pure form in nature.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=A Short History of Metals |journal=Nature |volume=203 |issue=4943 |page=337 |last=Cramb |first=Alan W |bibcode=1964Natur.203Q.337T |year=1964 |doi=10.1038/203337a0 |s2cid=382712 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The advantages of copper tools over stone, bone and wooden tools were quickly apparent to early humans, and native copper was probably used from near the beginning of [[Neolithic]] times (about 10 kya).<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Ceramics |volume= 05 | pages = 703–760; see page 708 |last1= Hall |first1= Harry Reginald Holland |author-link= Harry Reginald Holland Hall |quote= The art of making a pottery consisting of a siliceous sandy body coated with a vitreous copper glaze seems to have been known unexpectedly early, possibly even as early as the period immediately preceding the Ist Dynasty (4000 B.C.).}}</ref> Native copper does not naturally occur in large amounts, but copper ores are quite common and some of them produce metal easily when burned in wood or charcoal fires. Eventually, the working of metals led to the discovery of [[alloys]] such as [[bronze]] and [[brass]] (about 4,000 BCE). The first use of iron alloys such as steel dates to around 1,800 BCE.<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Hideo |last=Akanuma |title=The significance of the composition of excavated iron fragments taken from Stratum III at the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük, Turkey |journal=Anatolian Archaeological Studies |volume=14 |publisher=Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology |place=Tokyo}}</ref><ref name=hindu001200903261>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200903261611.htm |title=Ironware piece unearthed from Turkey found to be oldest steel |date=26 March 2009 |work=The Hindu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329111924/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200903261611.htm |archive-date=29 March 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date=8 November 2016 }}</ref>