Throughout history, most spinners have also used a simple device called a distaff.

The warp-weighted loom has been used since about 7000 BCE

From the beginning of Western history until the Middle Ages, the main weaving tool was the warp-weighted loom.

The lyre was invented by the Sumerians of ancient Iraq around 3200 BCE.

For centuries people have used cosmetics to enhance or decorate the human figure for aesthetic or religious purposes.

Trepanation is a method of brain surgery whose origins can be traced to the Late Stone Age.

The potter’s wheel was widely used by the beginning of the third phase of the Early Bronze Age, about 2400 BCE.

This is a recreation of Queen Shub-Ad’s harp, an artifact unearthed early this century from the Sumerian Royal Cemetery at Ur.

The 260-day calendar, called a tzolkin, consists of two wheels, a larger one of twenty days and a smaller one with the numbers one through thirteen.

Many fine examples of wooden and clay mechanical string toys have been found in the tombs of Ancient Egypt.

Legend has it that the first soap was accidentally produced on Mt. Sopa, a site of animal sacrifice.

The ancient Egyptian folding stool, which dates from the Middle Kingdom, had a practical, light seat attached on two sides, was easily portable, and therefore in general use.

Water is heavy stuff. When the ancient Romans undertook to build an aquaduct to carry fresh water from the mountains into the city, they needed a structure strong enough to support all that water, as well as itself.

It is believed that the advance news of the capture of Troy by the Greek commander Agamemnon was communicated through beacons.

This simple tumbler lock was probably invented around 1000 BCE, although a date of 2000 BCE has also been proposed.

Candles were first mentioned in Biblical times, as early as the tenth century BCE. These early candles were made of wicks stuck into containers filled with a flammable material.

The inventions of the hemispherium and the hemicyclium are attributed to Berosus (356-323 BCE), a Chaldean priest and astronomer who brought these types of sundials to Greece.

The catapult was an ancient siege machine that could hurl heavy objects or shoot arrows with great force and for considerable distances.

Used in classical Athens, the Chelys-Lyra is a lyre consisting of a tortoise-shell sound compartment with skin stretched over the opening.

Crossbows, used in war until the 17th century, are still used for sport today.