Chris,

I'd beg to respectfully disagree. There's a huge difference. It comes ready to use and it will last through years of abuse that would render chert into fragments or dust, to say nothing of all the added capabilities it offers. Those are the sorts of advantages that your primitive would have traded just about anything for. They used the best they were able to get, if they could have gotten better they would have done so in a heart beat. Once metal tools became available, they didn't refuse them. In fact, they sometimes killed to obtain them.

Someone once said, "Only a fool looks down their nose at an advantage. A fool often soon dead."

Just some ramblings as I contemplate my navel with a bit of writer's block. Have I ever mentioned I hate yellow inflatable things. <img src="images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />