How did people used to "cut" their fingernails?

In my view, ancient people usually cut their fingernails by means of knife. So long as the knife was sharp, it could be used to cut fingernails. Even if they had no knife, they could cut their fingernails through biting. Don't forget that the teeth is a "natural tool".

How did people used to "cut" their fingernails? hi stealthy, you already answered half of the question.. what i know in the olden times they make stone knives maybe that is the way they cut there fingernails on the olden times.. heheh that would be my wild guess my friend. ^^ hehehe but the correct would be they cut it by eating their nails... =)

Today cutting nails and shaving etc is all for personal hygiene and looks, so who knows back then they may not have cut their nails and left them to grow and fall off or break off as they did naturally- all of the handwork they will have done back then considering they did not have any of the mod cons of today, their nails will have stayed pretty trim- maybe not neat and tidy, but out of the way. Just think about people who today have jobs working in a factory or gardening...their nails rarely stay long, and Cavemen wouldn't have cared about them been a bit scraggly looking! IF they did however want to keep their nails cut and tidy, I guess they will have used rocks to file them down, they wouldn't have needed "cutting" per se, and so a sharp rock will have sufficed to file the nails down! But as I say, it is unlikely they will have even bothered, as hygiene was not anything they worried about, and they didn't take interest in how they looked as far as we know, they more than likely wouldn't have bothered. The nail clippers were invented in 1881 and was called the Finger Nail Trimmer, it was invented by Eugene Heim, Celestin Matz and Cincinnati Ohio in the US, although a very early "type" of nail clipper, this was the first patent of anything like the modern nail clipper!

I also dont have any idea, but looking to the images of those ancient people. They have longer nails. So I guess they just leave it like that, until it will breaks. I am not sure about it. But that's just my guess.

i think they are only using their teeth to cut it like some people to also.. it was kinda dirty and yucky to look at.. :) i think at medieval time people dont think about their fingernails too much when they dont feel confident about it they will just grind it with their front teeth..

personally i think they just used their teeth thats what alot of people still do lol

I think caveman don't cut there fingernails. They just make it big. I don't think so that they bite their nails. Otherwise they take it there food. But i never found anywhere that nails was there food. So they just make it big and big. And sometime it breakdown automatically.

Im guessing with some sort of filing stone or maybe chewing there nails