SRAC Presents:

Stone Tools

What is a “Tool”?

 A tool is an object that can be used to make a task easier.

Some tools that you may be familiar with are a hammer, a screwdriver, or a wrench. But we use many tools today in our everyday lives. Even your pen & pencil and your paper, your eraser, and even your computer can be considered tools as they make tasks easier than trying to do them without these tools.

What is the tool being used in the picture shown here?

The Native Indians used many tools made out of many different types of materials including wood, bone, leather, pottery and stone. Unfortunately, the wood, bone and leather rotted away over many hundreds and thousands of years. For this reason, when we find "artifacts" or evidence of these ancient people who lived here so long ago, we usually only find the stone items or pieces of pottery that remain over time.

Stone Tools :

This learning module is about the stone tools that were used by the Native Indians long ago.

Click here to watch a brief introduction to the Stone Tools/Learning Module

Some of the stone tools used by the Native Indians who lived in our area include: (Click any tool below to learn more)

How would your parent make your supper tonight if they had no knives, pots or pans or other cooking tools?

The Native Indians that lived in our region hundreds of years ago could not buy their food or tools at a store. They had no refrigerators, microwave ovens, or stoves. They hunted, gathered nuts and berries, and planted the food that they ate. They used the things that they found in their surroundings to make what tools they had and many times changed them in ways to make them easier to handle or use. Wood, stone and bone were probably the three materials they used most to make their tools.