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?
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I find pre-history fascinating.
ELI5: Humans have been around a VERY long time. And sometimes things happen just by being in the right place at the right time. Remember that time you went to the vending machine, and you got two bags of chips instead of one? And now when you’re at a vending machine you look for a chance to get two of something for the price of one?
One day, some really old humans made a fire pit. They made a nice fire that lasted a long time. The next day when they were cleaning up, they noticed something shiny in the fire that wasn’t there before. Eventually they figured it came from one of the rocks. They tested to find out which rocks had the shiny stuff in them. And then they got better at getting the shiny stuff out.
Non-ELI5: Likely, they made fire pits, using rocks from a vein of copper. Copper melted and looked unique in the ash. Probably decorative at first, but then realized it could be fashioned to carry a better edge than a stone tool and that it would last longer, lighter too. Thus they began identifying rocks that contained more copper, and ultimately to uncovering veins of copper.
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