View allAll Photos Tagged Scraper,
There are countless boot scrapers near the steps of older buildings in downtown Philly. A lot of them are unique.
Between 350,000 and 300, 000 years ago, Flake Side- Scrapers were created and used daily to help its creators complete simple tasks. In Stanley H. Ambrose's article, “Paleolithic Technology and Human Evolution”, Ambrose discusses the beginning of tools and one of the first creatures to use them, Chimpanzees. In fact, Chimpanzees used a variety of tools to accomplish daily tasks. Stone tools, like the one sketched above, were used to help them eat meat, crack nuts, or break things. Interestingly, Ambrose mentions that female Chimpanzees used the tools on a more frequent basis and presented more skills in using them than males did. The evolution of those primitive tools to more modern day tools is most likely impacted by the people who used them and how they developed their skills. Typically, in present day, males tend to be the ones more knowledgeable when using tools and other technological advances. I wonder where in the evolution of humans and tools did the gender roles change? Later on in the article, Ambrose addresses the debate of who was actually the first toolmaker. Originally, people believed the first toolmaker was homo habilus but now, with this new theory regarding chimpanzees and the similarities between their tools and that of human ancestors, scientists are questioning their data. Maybe we are more closely connected to Chimpanzees than we thought? It will be interesting to see what more data brings to the table.
It's interesting to see all of the variations on the iron boot scraper in London. This one is particularly clever, tucked into the stone beside a doorway.