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Paragraph on “What kind of weapons were used by ancient man?” complete paragraph for Class 9, Class 10, Class 11 and Class 12

What kind of weapons were used by ancient man?

The first kind of tool made by man was a stone that was broken to give an edge that could be used for scraping. These simple pebble tools were used probably more than one million years ago. Eventually, ancient man found that a stone could be shaped into a blade. A rough one is called a chopper and a sharper blade a hand axe. Both were held in the hand and used for simple tasks. The kind of stone most used was flint, because it will break into sharp-edged flakes that can easily be shaped into tools. A kind of volcanic glass called obsidian was even better than flint, but much less common.

Sharp tools could be used as weapons, and stone knives immediately found use as daggers. Sharp blades were mounted in shafts of  wood or antler horn to produce axes. Using a weapon with a shaft increases striking power, and spears were made by pushing a blade into a cleft at the end of a long shaft. The halberd, which is like an axe with a long shaft, appeared. Lances or javelins were made by mounting a narrow point of stone or bone on a shaft, and harpoons with barbed heads carved from bone were used.

Man then found out how to increase his muscle power with simple machines. The bow and arrow were developed, the arrowheads being made from flint flakes or bone. The sling, made of thongs and a pouch, enabled man to throw projectiles of stone great distances. The spear thrower increased the range of spears; the spear was placed against a ledge at one end of the thrower and thrown by gripping the other end. This acted to increase the length of the arm and gave to greater power.

New materials improved weapons. In the late Stone Age, fine stone blades were made by grinding stone rather than chipping flakes. The advent of the Bronze Age about 5,000 years ago improved the effectiveness of weapons. Metal could be honed to deadly sharpness, and from the dagger the rapier developed, and from the rapier the sword. Spearheads were made with sockets to fit on shafts. However, ancient man also began to find protection, for metal could also be used for armour and shields.

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