The hand ax was probably one of only about a dozen tool forms in the Acheulean kit and was produced according to some form of mental template. Most of the other items in the assemblage were Oldowan in many ways. These other tools only displayed a minimal imposition of form. Besides hand axes, they also used antler spear throwers , for spear hunting, adorned with life like animal carvings. Other tools were used as cleavers to cut meat. During this period they discovered Flint which was used in the production of smaller lighter tools, whereas the oldowan tool makers used heavier coarse-grained stones. The greatest tool of this period however, was the invention of fire. Originally, fire was used for protection from predators. Later it was used to provide warmth, and to cook foods. Once Homo Erectus discovered how to cook foods many problems were alleviated. Poisons in foods were burned away, and smaller tooth size came about since foods were now softer. Fire gave people more control over their environment. Fire also provided light in caves, or at night time which before this was unavailable. "Research shows that early Homo erectus controlled and used fire in eastern Africa, adding about a million years to the time when human ancestors faced fire - not as an object of terror - but as a source of comfort and protection. Extensive and varied analyses show that more than six red patches discovered at the famous hominid site of Koobi Fora on the shore of Kenya's Lake Turkana are, in fact, fireplaces used by hominid(Rowlett)." Another significant tool in this period was bamboo. Bamboo had several important uses such as knives, spears, projectile points, and the building of villages. The next category of development for archaic humans is Homo Sapiens. This category however, is divided into three parts: the lower, middle, and upper paleolithic periods. The style of tool making in the lower paleolithic period is called the Levalloi...
