Some believe that ancient wall carvings were made as art and to depict stories of daily life.
Without the skill of carving, the world would not have some of its most beautiful art. And we would also be without some of our most functional domestic items. Before people were using plastic, glass or even fired clay, they were carving bowls and cups from wood and stone. The rule with ancient carving tools was simple: It need not be perfect, just harder than the material being carved.
Stone
Tools made from stone were used in ancient times to carve and shape other stones and wood. These tools were crude and did not provide very detailed carving, but they accomplished the task. Basalt is a grey-black rock that is formed from volcanic ash and obsidian is another igneous, volcanic glass-like rock. These stones, along with other hard stones like jade, were used as adzes and chisels to chip away and carve softer stone, like limestone. With these stone tools, other stones, bamboo and even shells were shaped into items like knives, bowls or mortar and pestle.
Bone and Shell
Stone was used to turn hard materials, such as animal bone and shell, into pointed implements with a wooden handle. These tools, in turn, were used to carve in their own right. Native American tribes made knives out of the leg bone of an animal like the beaver and strapped it to a wooden handle. They even used the scales of fish skin as crude sandpaper. The ancient Chamarro people, in the area that is now Guam, used axes made from sharpened clam and oyster shells. These tools were used with stone tools to carve wooden items such as intricate and seaworthy canoes.
Metal
Metal tools have been used to carve for thousands of years, and are still used today. The Egyptians used tools like chisels, wedges and adzes that were made from copper when they were carving and shaping the stones to build the Great Pyramid. Metal brought about tools that were sharper and far more precise. Carved artwork and domestic items made from even the hardest stone, such as marble, became possible with blades of copper, bronze and eventually steel. With the use of metal, and more precise tool crafting, came chisels that performed specific tasks, such as flat, pointed, toothed, splitting and round-ended chisels.
Mallets and Shapers
The chisel may be the most crucial tool in carving, but it would be worthless without the mallet to strike it. The first rudimentary mallets, or hammers, were stones strapped to a piece of wood as a handle. The form has not changed much since ancient times. Mallets used in carving were made from different materials, depending on the job they are called to do. Stone or wood were each used, depending on how much force and strength was needed. Mallets varied in size as well, with very small ones available for meticulous carving work. Tools used to file the carved material down in order to shape it were made of stone or shell, and later made of copper or bronze. These tools include the adze and rasp.
