The Stone Age is termed the Stone Age not because stone tools were the most advanced technology in the Paleolithic tool kit but because they are the best preserved. Lashing, sewing, and weaving were as sophisticated as the fabrication of edge tools, but only an indirect record has endured. Tying things together is as important as cutting them apart. A knot can be as useful as a knife; a net can be as effective as a spear. The tensile arts were not so much invited as adopted: from vines hanging in the forest, sinews exposed when animals were dismembered, hides stretched out when they were skinned, beach grass weaving the idea of basketry in the wind. Net making is as old as the spider's web. – George Dyson source:: The Thread Age Author:: [[CJ Eller]] topic:: [[history]]