A knife for reaping corn, first used by Neolithic man, made of flint and shaped like a banana. These flint blades were mounted in a wooden or bone haft, as in the Natufian of Palestine. Later sickles were of bronze and some of terra-cotta were in Sumer. In the Bronze Age, a socketed sickle appeared. Since the introduction of iron, the balanced sickle has become the standard form - a deeply curved blade bent back from the handle. Its modern form is a curved metal blade with a short handle fitted on a tang.