Term for the kind of tools that haven't significantly changed over history

Question

I’m looking for a term for the kind of tools that haven’t significantly changed over history.  These kind of items first uses usually date from humanity's early days, haven't changed much in form or function across the times and are still widely used.

It may be used in this way:

Needles are an example of a _______ tool.

Note: If I recall correctly, the age of the item isn't the point, and the unchanging characteristic (or little change across large periods) of the objects is far more important in the definition of this word.

Like spoons that have preserved its basic shape and function for milennia even if they are ergonomic now and the materials they are built with aren't the rocks in your yard any more.

I heard the word in a history class something like 12 years ago, so my definition may be a bit off.

Answer 1

You might be able to use primitive:

American Heritage Dictionary:

• Of or relating to an early or original stage or state; primeval:  life in the primitive ocean.
• Occurring in or characteristic of an early stage of development or evolution:  fossils of primitive angiosperms from the Cretaceous Period.
• Having developed early in the evolutionary history of a group:  Hair is a primitive trait of mammals.
• Regarded as having changed little in evolutionary history. Not in scientific use:  The coelacanth is a primitive fish.

Macmillan Dictionary:

very simple in design -  primitive tools -  a primitive camera


• old-fashioned, simple, and without modern features or comforts
  The conditions in the camp were fairly primitive.
  a remote and primitive cottage in the mountains

Collins English Dictionary:

If you describe something as primitive, you mean that it is very simple in style or very old-fashioned.

ODO:

Relating to, denoting, or preserving the character of an early stage in the evolutionary or historical development of something.
‘primitive mammals’
‘a name corrupted from primitive German’


• Relating to or denoting a preliterate, nonindustrial society or culture characterized by simple social and economic organization.
  ‘primitive people’

but you have to be careful to make your meaning clear, as primitive has multiple definitions.  It can also mean ancient.  In addition to the above definitions, note:

Macmillan:

at a very simple stage of development, before modern technology
a primitive society/tribe
• relating to a very early stage in the development of humans, animals, or plants
  primitive man/life
  primitive creatures like jellyfish and corals

Collins:

• Primitive means belonging to a society in which people live in a very simple way, usually without industries or a writing system.
  ...studies of primitive societies.
  ...primitive tribes.
• Primitive means belonging to a very early period in the development of an animal or plant.
  ...primitive whales.
  Primitive humans needed to be able to react like this to escape from dangerous animals.
  It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.

so, if you are not clearly referring to something that is in current use, readers might assume that you are referring to an antiquated, historic artifact.

Primitive can also mean crude and unsophisticated:

AHD:

• Characterized by simplicity or crudity; unsophisticated:  primitive weapons.
• Of or relating to a nonindustrial, often tribal culture, especially one that is characterized by an absence of literacy and a low level of economic or technological complexity:  primitive societies.

so you should indicate that you are talking about something that hasn’t evolved because it didn’t need to; the early design is adequate for current usage.

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On the same page in the dictionary: consider also primordial:

American Heritage Dictionary:

• Being or happening first in sequence of time; original.
• Primary or fundamental: play a primordial role.

but it is generally defined to mean old in a cosmological sense:

Macmillan Dictionary:

formed when the Earth or universe began

Collins English Dictionary:

You use primordial to describe things that belong to a very early time in the history of the world.
[formal]
Twenty million years ago, Idaho was populated by dense primordial forest.
...the original primordial explosion.

ODO:

Existing at or from the beginning of time; primeval.
‘the primordial oceans’

Answer 2

Because you think you may be looking for an anthropological term, I suggest ur-

According to the Oxford English Dictionary

ur, prefix, denoting ‘primitive, original, earliest,’ as ur-Hamlet, ur-origin, ur-stock

Example: 1926 A. Møller tr. J. Pedersen Israel I. i. 245 The word shēm is found in all Semitic languages and belongs to the absolutely certain ur-semitic components

Because OED is behind a pay-wall, here is another source, Etymonline:

prefix meaning "original, earliest, primitive," from German ur- "out of, original," from Proto-Germanic *uz- "out," from PIE *ud- "up, out" (see out (adv.)) At first only in words borrowed from German (such as ursprache "hypothetical primitive language"); since mid-20c. a living prefix in English.

This may not be exactly what you are looking for, because ur- by itself doesn't necessarily mean that the ur-object hasn't changed its form over the millennia, but it carries a strong implication that it hasn't. For example (made up):

A Cro-Magnon would have no trouble using the latest sterling silver spoon made by Tiffany, because although shinier, it is essentially the ur-spoon she had been using all her life.

Answer 3

I would use age-old in that sentence.

Other possibilities include

ancient       'having had an existence of many years' as in ancient customs
primal         'original, primitive', as in village life continued in its primal innocence
primeval     'of or relating to the earliest ages (as of the world or human history)', as in
                              100 acres of primeval forest which has never felt an ax
primordial 'existing in or persisting from the beginning (as of a solar system or universe)", as in
                              a primordial gas cloud
venerable   'impressive by reason of age'

All definitions from Merriam-Webster.

Answer 4

It is also possible that the form of the tool hasn't changed for a long time because the tool has been developed to the optimum design for the given task and materials. For example, a well-designed knife for hand-cleaning fish will work well without change for millennia.

So, fully-evolved or optimized seem to satisfy the question.