what were the first elements our ancestors knew about?
955424
Almost certainly copper, which can be found as the native metal, and in ores which are so easily smelted that they could have been discovered accidentally.  Wikipedia suggests 7500 BC, compared to 4000 BC for silver and gold, and noticeably later for iron.\n\nYou could get an argument from somebody about carbon, because charcoal was being used for painting and decorating caves at least 30,000 years ago, and it's not got a lot of impurities compared with pure carbon.
119171
The first organisms to live on the earth belonged to the kingdom archaebacteria.
285030
About 15,000 years ago.
45736
The first inhabitants were known to be the Aetas!
878348
Here is the basic information including some alchemy (second two references).  Carbon is so old in human time that its history will never really be known.
517391
well you say animals...so I think the first animals would have been similar to that of fish due to the large area occupied by water. And they would have no bone, probably use their skin to breathe.\nIf you're talking about bacteria...then yes, it would have to anaerobe because it is believed that the first form of life was some sort of bacteria and at that time there was no oxygen present.\nAnd I think plants too were first found in water.
33251
Salt is a mineral, and probably is present everywhere in the world. I've heard that Native Americans traded salt among themselves long before we came here.
1102500
Magnesium and zinc are heavy metals , Gold is light , It does not corrode and is shiny too.It is malleable and Ductile !\nGold has several qualities that have made it exceptionally valuable throughout history. It is attractive in colour and brightness, durable to the point of virtual indestructibility, highly malleable, and usually found in nature in a comparatively pure form. \nSoft, lustrous, white silver was one of the first metals known to humans. Together with gold, iridium, palladium, and platinum, it is one of the group called precious metals. Silver ornaments and decorations have been found in royal tombs dating back as far as 4000 BC.Silver is somewhat harder than gold and is second only to gold in malleability and ductility.\nSame is with silver\nRegards,\nSidra
919412
around 3000 bc evidence that metals were smith'd
354028
Charles Darwin proposed that the first proteins evolved from non-living matter. But how did this happen? Firstly, the earth was not the same today as it was 3 to 4 billion years ago when the first organic compounds where being formed. The early atmosphere was too hot for oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), and other elements to exist alone, as they do today. These elements combined to form methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), water vapor (H2O), hydrogen sulfide (formula), hydrogen molecules (H2), etc. These where all, and thus the early atmosphere was called a 'reducing atmosphere'. Further, as there was no free oxygen to form an ozone (O3) layer to protect the earth from the harsh ultra-violet radiation (UV Rays) from the sun. Also, there where incredibly violent electrical storms, which where more violent than any which occur today. \n\nIn 1924 Alexander Oparin hypothesized that organic compounds where formed in the early earth when the high energy provided by UV Rays, and storms, caused different molecules to react, and create new organic compounds, such as Amino Acids DNA, and RNA.
970747
As to what?  The very first time or a specific chemical / physical entity?
1116645
the oldest that we can find and have full knowledge of it.is VEDA.\nit is about 7500 years old,with some fascinating transcript of general belief of this religion
417220
Since the fossil records indicate human life began in Africa, we're all immigrants. Even native peoples crossed the Bering straights from Asia into North America.
59455
not quite sure what you are asking but:\n\nfirst form of energy was human power (brute force)\nthen came fire (heat energy)\nwind power for flour mills\nsteam power\nelectricity (then the different forms of generating it, coal first, gasoline, nuclear, wind, solar etc)
612990
At the bottom of the perodic table...\n\nThey are technetium (at. no. 43), which was the first element to be synthesized, promethium (at. no. 61), astatine (at. no. 85), francium (at. no. 87), and the transuranium elements (at. no. 93 and beyond in the periodic table). Some of these elements have since been shown to exist in minute amounts in nature, usually as short-lived members of natural radioactive decay series (see radioactivity).\n\nThe synthetic elements through at. no. 100 (fermium) are created by bombarding a heavy element, such as uranium or plutonium, with neutrons or alpha particles. The synthesis of the transfermium elements (elements with at. no. 101 or greater) is accomplished by the fusion of the nuclei of two lighter elements. Elements 101 through 106 were first produced by fusing the nuclei of slightly lighter elements, such as californium, with those of light elements, such as carbon. Elements 107 through 112 were first produced by fusing the nuclei of medium-weight elements, such as bismuth or lead, with those of other medium-weight elements, such as iron, nickel, or zinc. Element 114 was first produced by fusing the nuclei of plutonium and calcium and subsequently by fusing the nuclei of lead and krypton, as was element 116. Element 115 was produced by bombarding americium with calcium, and element 113 resulted from the radioactive decay of element 115. The claim by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to have created element 118 has been retracted.)\n\nThe transfermium elements are produced in very small quantities (one atom at a time), and identification is therefore very difficult because of half-lives ranging from minutes to milliseconds and the need to identify the products by methods other than known chemical separations. This has led to controversy over reported discoveries and over the naming of the elements. It has been predicted that one isotope of element 114—containing 114 protons and 184 neutrons—would be very stable because its nucleus would have a full complement of protons and neutrons. Termed an “island of stability,” its half-life might be measured in years. However, none of the three isotopes of element 114 synthesized as yet have as many as 184 neutrons, and their half-lives are still in the millisecond range.
134389
A number of chemists contributed to the development of the periodic table during the 19th century; however, Mendeleyev Dmitry Ivanovich, a russian chemist,  is regarded as the primary discoverer. His version of the table was the first to accommodate all the known elements and also successfully predicted the existence of several elements that had not yet been discovered. These undiscovered elements included gallium, scandium, and germanium.\n\n\nDuring the writing of his book, Mendeleyev tried to classify the elements according to their chemical properties. In 1869 he published his first version of what became known as the periodic table, in which he demonstrated the periodic law. In 1871 he published an improved version of the periodic table, in which he left gaps for elements that were not yet known. His chart and theories gained increased acceptance when three predicted elements—gallium, germanium, and scandium—were subsequently discovered.
27404
It is believed that Albertus Magnus obtained the element in 1250 A.D. who obtained it by heating soap together with orpiment (arsenic trisulphide, As2S3). But actually Arsenic has been known since ancient times. It is so old, nobody knows who first discovered it or when. Arsenic compounds were mined by the early Chinese, Greek and Egyptian civilizations. No doubt they discovered its toxic properties early on. I don't know if anybody could find a name from the ancient history.