Lighters

The surest way of starting a fire has always been to strike sparks. Stone Age fire starter kits used flint, pyrite – so-called fool’s gold, and tinder; modern disposable lighters function in the same way but with other materials. The technique of striking up a fire only became obsolete when matches were invented in 1829. Anyone who goes camping nowadays takes utensils for starting fires with them which are very much like the ones Ötzi had with him in the Alps.