> Perhaps... it was the transition of an energy source to precise rotary motion (such as is used on pottery wheels and presumably very early lathes and grinding equipment) which sparked the industrial revolution and the modern era.
possibly, but very early lathes are at least new kingdom and probably old kingdom egypt, so if so it took over 3000 years for that spark to blaze. grinding is much older than that, 44000 years old in australia
precision grinding was crucial to making the pyramids, though those aren't pre-metal. it's also useful for keeping mice out of your stored grain. generally, imprecise construction is liable to collapse on people and kill them, so you'd expect to find precision measurement as soon as you find cities (neolithic), but that is more speculative
the paddle's curvature may be intentional; it reduces impact loads
Interesting points. But remember, 3,000 years is only ~60 generations which considering the low populations in history - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_demography - was actually quite rapid in aggregate human experience terms relative to, say, five years today.
agreed, and you can draw clear lines of causality between ancient egyptian culture and current world culture, but the argument that egypt is uniquely important there seems weaker; the song dynasty seems more directly relevant, for example
possibly, but very early lathes are at least new kingdom and probably old kingdom egypt, so if so it took over 3000 years for that spark to blaze. grinding is much older than that, 44000 years old in australia
precision grinding was crucial to making the pyramids, though those aren't pre-metal. it's also useful for keeping mice out of your stored grain. generally, imprecise construction is liable to collapse on people and kill them, so you'd expect to find precision measurement as soon as you find cities (neolithic), but that is more speculative
the paddle's curvature may be intentional; it reduces impact loads