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Tools and Equipment

Knife

Woodworking Tools

A knife is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade attached to a handle. It is one of humanity's oldest implements, with evidence of knives dating back at least 2.5 million years to the Stone Age. Early knives were made from wood, bone, and stone such as flint and obsidian, and as metalworking advanced the blade material progressed through copper, bronze, iron, and steel. A knife's basic parts include the blade for cutting, the point for piercing, the spine along the blade's thickest edge, and the handle for grip, with some designs adding a guard or lanyard hole. Modern knives are made with fixed or folding blades and serve purposes ranging from food preparation and hunting to combat and ceremony. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Introduced When (Circa)
Circa 2.5 million years ago; among humanity's earliest tools, evidenced by Oldowan stone tools. 1
Origin
Originally made of wood, bone and stone such as flint and obsidian; blade materials progressed to copper, bronze, iron, steel, ceramic and titanium as metallurgy and manufacturing improved. 1
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Knife (Wikipedia)
  • Lead section, sentence on earliest use
    One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools.
  • Lead section, sentence on blade materials
    Originally made of wood, bone, and stone (such as flint and obsidian), over the centuries, in step with improvements in both metallurgy and manufacturing, knife blades have been made from copper, bronze, iron, steel, ceramic, and titanium.
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