how did early humans create the first metal tools without metal tools to make them?

Question

If early humans crafted a hammer or an axe from metal for example. How on earth did they craft the first tool that was used to create that hammer or axe. I know you can create a hammer from natural material like stone and an axe from a sharp piece of stone but how did they forge the first metal tools and even weapons?

In: 393

Answer 1

There’s a great YouTube series on this called primitive technology. Very entertaining. Basically in some kinds of soil there’s small amounts of metal. You build a wood furnace from mud and get it hot enough to melt the iron out of the soil. You collect all the metal bits, melt them into one and then you can make tools and weapons from them