We tend to picture prehistoric technology as a progression of increasingly clever stone tools because stone is what survives, but rope may have been closer to infrastructure
Not mentioned in TFA: cordage is a critical component in slings, an early, powerful ranged weapon.
With some sort of pulley, rope allows a single human to excert large amounts of force trough leverage, often in ways more convenient than other forms of mechanical leverage. (Such as actual levers.)
We tend to picture prehistoric technology as a progression of increasingly clever stone tools because stone is what survives, but rope may have been closer to infrastructure
Not mentioned in TFA: cordage is a critical component in slings, an early, powerful ranged weapon.
With some sort of pulley, rope allows a single human to excert large amounts of force trough leverage, often in ways more convenient than other forms of mechanical leverage. (Such as actual levers.)
Rope can also be used for 1:1 power transfer.
This really reinforces the idea that cordage was less a single invention than a general-purpose mechanical primitive