What is the oldest human-created artifact that has mattered to you? Why/how does it matter?

The oldest human-created artifact that I find important is the spear. Without the spear mankind would not be were it is today, but still developing. Stone Age man new that they without food they would die. The invention of the spear helped them to hunt and opened the way to more inventions like stone tools and such. With the invention of the spear, hunting became easier, food came faster, and there was more time for other things like advancing in culture. The first spear is dated back to 250,000 years ago. Humans not only used the spears for hunting but for war.
Stone Age men figured out that for war and hunting, the sharper the spear head and the stronger the arm, the more damage would occur. Thus archaeologists have found things such as dead bears that date back to about 250,000 years ago and forward, with sharper spear heads. (http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=aa89) From the spear came the bow and arrow, metal, and suits of Armour.
The invention of the bow and arrow has contributed to war and hunting today.
citation: "Stone Age Harpoon." Wikimedia commons. Web. 4 Feb 2010. .
Gascoigne, Bamber. “History of Arms and Armour” HistoryWorld. From 2001, ongoing.