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29,000 BCE
Ovens
An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. The earliest ovens were found in Central Europe, and date back to 29,000 BC. They were roasting and boiling pits inside yurts used to cook mammoth. -
8300 BCE
Fishing Net
A fishing net is a net used for fishing. Some fishing nets are also called fish traps, for example fyke nets. The oldest known fishing net is the net of Antrea, found with other fishing equipment in the Karelian town of Antrea, Finland, in 1913. The net was made from willow, and dates back to 8300 BC. -
6000 BCE
Irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. The site of Choga Mami, in present-day Iraq on the border with Iran, is believed to be the earliest to show the first canal irrigation in operation at about 6000 BCE. -
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is any of various types of cooling of a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (while the removed heat is ejected to a place of higher temperature). The history of artificial refrigeration began when Scottish professor William Cullen designed a small refrigerating machine in 1755. -
Canning
canning, method of preserving food from spoilage by storing it in containers that are hermetically sealed and then sterilized by heat. The process was invented after prolonged research by Nicolas Appert of France in 1809, in response to a call by his government for a means of preserving food for army and navy use -
Threshing Machine/Combine Harvester
The modern combine harvester, also called a combine, is a machine designed to harvest a variety of cultivated seeds. In 1826 in Scotland, the inventor Reverend Patrick Bell designed a reaper machine, which used the scissors principle of plant cutting (a principle that is used to this day). The Bell machine was pushed by horses. A few Bell machines were available in the United States. -
Pasteurization/Sterilization
pasteurization, heat-treatment process that destroys pathogenic microorganisms in certain foods and beverages. It is named for the French scientist Louis Pasteur, who in the 1860s demonstrated that abnormal fermentation of wine and beer could be prevented by heating the beverages to about 57 °C (135 °F) for a few minutes. -
Preservation Techniques- drying
Drying is a time-honored method of food preservation. In the 1920s, Jacques Vansteenberghe and Jacques Arsene d'Arsonval patented a method for freeze-drying the rabies virus. Freeze-drying is easier than dehydrating or canning and can last 7 to 8 times longer than fresh products. In addition to saving money, freeze-dried foods are more nutritious than fresh ones.