So this is going to be different from most posts here, but I think it still fits here. I am working on a project that has to do with the technological progression of humanity. I have worked it out up to the iron age, but I feel like I am missing a lot before and after that. I have it so that in the beginning the main progression was fire and flint tools. Then after that they heated stones to make them malleable enough to make tools, and there was the stone age. After this is where I begin to loose track. All I can find in the stone age was that they learned to make crucibles and how to melt metal, then they made bronze. I have even less in the Bronze Age. All I have is that they made steel and now they were in the iron age. It then seems that there is a massive gap between the iron age and the next big step, using mechanical power, a millennia later... What am I missing? (I have not done a lot of small details, I am just concerned with the major steps. Any advice would be helpful.
Could I ask you a few questions?
For instance what is the purpose of your project? That would determine what kinda of info I'd be looking to provide.
Are there specifics between iron age and mechanic age you had questions about? The specifies advances or a more broad over view?
Is there an end date you had in mind for this project?
Hi there - we're happy to approve your question related to your creative project, and we are happy for people to answer. However, we should warn you that many flairs have become reluctant to answer questions for aspiring novelists and the like, based on past experience: some people working on creative projects have a tendency to try to pump historians for trivia while ignoring the bigger points they were making, while others have a tendency to argue with historians when the historical reality does not line up with what's needed for a particular scene or characterization. Please respect the answers of people who have generously given you their time, even if it's not always what you want to hear.
Additionally, as amazing as our flair panel is, we should also point out that /r/AskHistorians is not a professional historical consultation service. If you're asking a question here because you need vital research for a future commercial product such as a historical novel, you may be better off engaging a historical consultant at a fair hourly rate to answer these questions for you. We don't know what the going rate for consultancy work would be in your locality, but it may be worth looking into that if you have in-depth or highly plot-reliant questions for this project. Some /r/AskHistorians flairs could be receptive to working as a consultant in this way. However, if you wish for a flair here to do this work for you, you will need to organize this with them yourselves.
For more general advice about doing research to inform a creative project, please check out our Monday Methods post on the subject.