With what you have
Tick the raw materials you can find. The inventions you could make appear below, taking into account the materials needed for all their prerequisites.
Tick at least one material.
Iron Smelting
Wider adoption around 1200 BCE; ore, charcoal and a bloomery
c. 1,200 BCESeed selection and saving
Choosing plants, keeping the next crop alive
c. 8,500 BCECopper Smelting
Copper won from ore with charcoal and a blast of air
c. 5,000 BCESynthetic plastics
Materials built from long molecules made in chemical plants
1907Paddy rice cultivation
Rice grown in level, bunded, flooded fields
c. 6,200 BCEQuarantine
Keeping apart those who may carry a disease until it would have shown
1374Querns and grinding
A stationary stone and a handstone turn grain into meal
23,000 years agoRailway track and points
Rails that guide the wheels, and switches that choose the way
c. 600 BCEMedical protective equipment
Gowns, masks and gloves that keep infection away from those who give care
1656Oil and fat lamp
A wick feeds a small flame from a liquid fuel reserve
20,000 years agoRolling Mill
Two rolls turning in opposite directions that squeeze metal thinner and longer
c. 1497Drawing iron wire by hand
A steel drawplate and tongs turn soft iron rods into wire
c. 1100Obstetric forceps
Two curved blades that cradle a baby's head in a difficult birth
c. 1630Rotor cipher machine
Wired discs that change the alphabet at every letter
1915Water electrolysis
Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen with a current
1789Toothbrush
Scrubbing the teeth with fibres, from chewed twigs to bristles
c. 100 BCEAnaerobic digestion and biogas
Fuel gas from waste that rots without air
c. 1895Dental fillings
Closing a hollowed tooth with a material that sets in place
13,000 years agoObstetric vacuum extractor
A suction cup that helps draw out a baby's head
c. 1706Dental drill
Spinning a small cutter fast enough to carve into a tooth
c. 5,000 BCEKoji fermentation
Growing a mould on cooked grain so that its enzymes ferment food
c. 8,000 BCEDental prostheses and implants
Replacing lost teeth with crowns, bridges and anchors in the bone
c. 630 BCESolar power tower
A field of mirrors that heats a boiler at the top of a tower
c. 1965Gelatin production
Dissolving the collagen of skin and bone in hot water, then setting and drying it
c. 8,430 BCEInstant noodles
Noodles cooked in steam, dried in hot oil or air, softened again by hot water
1958Beverage carbonation
Forcing carbon dioxide into water so that it sparkles when the bottle is opened
1750Molten salt thermal storage
Solar heat kept in tanks of hot salt for the night
1983Rotary converter
Turning alternating current into direct current with one machine
1887Vertical greenhouse
A glass tower that carries its plants up and down on moving trays
1963Coffee pulper
A rasping roller that strips the skin and pulp from fresh coffee cherries
1765Hand mincer and grater
A crank-driven screw that cuts food at a perforated plate
1845Cotton candy machine
A spinning head that flings melted sugar out into threads of sugar glass
1897Current-powered cable boat
A boat that winds itself upstream with the river's own force
c. 1440