# Oldest technology still in use and essentially unchanged **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 4, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552 "2005-08-04T13:31:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/21 "2005-08-04T19:16:05Z")
How about chalk? Take a chunk, and write on stuff. Not much there to be changed and/or modified across the ages. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/22 "2005-08-04T19:19:22Z")
The woven reed basket. Followed closely by the woven reed sun hat. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/23 "2005-08-04T19:22:31Z")
Beer was enjoyed in Egypt, what, 3000 years ago? Wine’s even older. Do those count as “technology,” though? Adam ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/24 "2005-08-04T19:23:42Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > The woven reed basket. > > Followed closely by the woven reed sun hat. Hey! Nobody’s said “clothing” yet, but you’re real close. (Isn’t it kinda weird what all we’re referring to as “technology”? Somehow that term suggests moving parts, electricity and gears to me.) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/25 "2005-08-04T19:24:49Z")
> [@Agent Foxtrot](#): > > Beer was enjoyed in Egypt, what, 3000 years ago? Wine’s even older. Do those count as “technology,” though? > > Adam See my reply to Bosda just above. Great minds? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/26 "2005-08-04T19:35:29Z")
Here’s something that’s not so old, but remarkable none-the-less: [The M1911 pistol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1911). It was first produced in 1905, and was the standard-issue handgun in the combat arm of the United States Armed Forces from 1911 to 1985. It’s still extremely popular today. And the design – despite being 100 years old – has remained virtually unchanged. ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/27 "2005-08-04T19:44:10Z")
What about an abacus? Is that old enough to count (ha!)? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/28 "2005-08-04T19:46:45Z")
> [@Rashak Mani](#): > > I’d say fermentation and wheel… these are quite old and still used in more or less the same way. Hence the sign they encountered in Egypt: “don’t drink fermented barley and wheel”. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/29 "2005-08-04T19:47:27Z")
> [@Greathouse](#): > > What about an abacus? > > Is that old enough to count (ha!)? I was going to mention various calendars, time pieces, counters, calculators, tally sticks, and so forth. The abacus is about as good an example as there is, and most unchanged of the ones I know of. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/30 "2005-08-04T19:50:34Z")
How about the concept of an idealized platform in space? Such as a chair, table, raised bed, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Palikia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@Palikia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palikia)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/31 "2005-08-04T20:15:29Z")
Don’t forget the shovel and the wheelbarrow ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/32 "2005-08-04T20:24:39Z")
I suppose it’s unfair to continue this topic without mentioning primitive weapons which have remained essentially unchanged over the millennia: Spears Bows and arrows Slings Boomerangs? Deadfalls (and other basic traps) and, at least if one has hilly country to play in, rolling boulders down hills to knock over stage coaches and Conestoga wagons. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/33 "2005-08-04T23:14:57Z")
I propose making this challenge a bit more stringent… Name an item that is manufactured and sold in the US today, and one that is NOT specifically intended to be a museum replica/collector’s item/old thing model, which you could travel back in time, leave for someone in a past society to find, and they would not only know what it was and be able to use it, but would not be at all startled by its form, apperance, or materials. Your best bet in that case might actually be some forms of art. There are probably artists working somewhere right now who are producing carved rock sculptures which, if found by neolithic people, would be recognized and accepted as rock sculptures. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/34 "2005-08-04T23:22:19Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I propose making this challenge a bit more stringent… > > \ > Your best bet in that case might actually be some forms of art. There are probably artists working somewhere right now who are producing carved rock sculptures which, if found by neolithic people, would be recognized and accepted as rock sculptures. If you’ll expand “some forms of art” to include those endeavors most usually referred to as “crafts” I’d suspect you could get more utilitarian objects in that category. I saw an episode of _Odyssey_ back in the early 80’s that had some current day anthropologists using flint tools to kill, dress and make garments from bison. The results were very impressive. Gourd drinking vessels, pottery, beads, body ornaments, and other things not usually regarded as art per se, would fit your criteria, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/35 "2005-08-05T01:25:54Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I propose making this challenge a bit more stringent… > > Name an item that is manufactured and sold in the US today, and one that is NOT specifically intended to be a museum replica/collector’s item/old thing model, which you could travel back in time, leave for someone in a past society to find, and they would not only know what it was and be able to use it, but would not be at all startled by its form, apperance, or materials. Howsabout a [mortar and pestle](http://importfood.com/mortarpestle.html), or any of the other stone food-grinding implements ([metate y mano](http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/metateymano.htm), etc.)? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/36 "2005-08-05T01:39:44Z")
Chopsticks. Or the Fork. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/37 "2005-08-05T02:02:35Z")
Hammocks, pottery wheels, hinges, door latches, skeleton keys, candles, dice, earrings, rings, necklaces, wine, beer, chess pieces, bells, baskets, ceramic anything, woven anything, canoe oars?, pipes?, recorders, horse saddles, etc. horse shoes and i’m sure other leather goods. things that are essentially the same but some materials have been refined: mirrors, scissors, stringed, brass and percussion instruments, looms, coins, stamps (as in to stamp in wax) ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/38 "2005-08-05T02:42:10Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Ways to start fire without matches, although you’d think it was a lost science if you watched Survivor. What about matches themselves? I’m sure they’ve changed in size/shape/color somewhat, but how old is the basic design? ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/39 "2005-08-05T03:53:31Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Chopsticks. Or the Fork. I’d go with a spoon over a fork. It didn’t really become common in Europe as an eating utensil until after the sixteenth century, being seen as excessively dainty. (Cooking forks, i.e.: two-pronged sticks for poking, are different.) Spoons have been around since the Paleolithic era. The earliest one is from Egypt, I think. Evidence of [tablet weaving](http://www.stringpage.com/tw/basictw.html) (also known as card weaving) have been found dating to 400 B.C. I think this is extraordinary, since I just can’t wrap my mind around how it works. Braiding has been around for a long time, too. I believe that Otzi the Iceman had braided textiles with him, though woven socks were discovered dating from the same period as Otzi (though in a different place), so braiding has to date waaaaay before 5000 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552/40 "2005-08-05T04:30:54Z")
[The Zippo Lighter](http://www.zippo.com/main.aspx?referral=&referralURL=) was invented in 1932 and has remained virtually unchanged and wildly popular ever since. Now THAT is a great invention! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-technology-still-in-use-and-essentially-unchanged/315552.md?page=3)