锁匙可能具有至少4000年的历史。多形式、多起源，并在不同文明间
广泛传播。
    引自Britannica 2003之lock条目：

The lock originated in the Near East; the oldest known example was
found in the ruins of the palace of Khorsabad near Nineveh. Possibly
4,000 years old, it is of the type known as a pin tumbler or, from
its widespread use in Egypt, an Egyptian lock. It consists of a large
wooden bolt, which secures the door, through which is pierced a slot
with several holes in its upper surface. An assembly attached to the
door contains several wooden pins positioned to drop into these holes
and grip the bolt. The key is a large wooden bar, something like a
toothbrush in shape; instead of bristles it has upright pegs that match
the holes and the pins. Inserted in the large keyhole below the vertical
pins it is simply lifted, raising the pins clear and allowing the bolt,
with the key in it, to be slid back (Figure 1). Locks of this type have
been found in Japan, Norway, and the Faeroe Islands and are still in use
in Egypt, India, and Zanzibar. An OldTestament reference, in Isaiah, 揂nd
I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David, shows how
the keys were carried. The falling-pin principle, a basic feature of many
locks, was developed to the full in the modern Yale lock (Figure 2).

In a much more primitive device used by the Greeks, the bolt was moved by
a sickle-shaped key of iron, often with an elaborately carved wooden
handle. The key was passed through a hole in the door and turned, the
point of the sickle engaging the bolt and drawing it back. Such a device
could give but little security. The Romans introduced metal for locks,
usually iron for the lock itself and often bronze for the key (with the
result that keys are found more often today than locks). The Romans
invented wards梚.e., projections around the keyhole, inside the lock,
which prevent the key from being rotated unless the flat face of the key
(its bit) has slots cut in it in such a fashion that the projections pass
through the slots. For centuries locks depended on the use of wards for
security, and enormous ingenuity was employed in designing them and in
cutting the keys so as to make the lock secure against any but the right
key (Figure 3). Such warded locks have always been comparatively easy to
pick, since instruments can be made that clear the projections, no matter
how complex. The Romans were the first to make small keys for locks梥ome
so small that they could be worn on the fingers as rings. They also
invented the padlock, which is found throughout the Near and Far East,
where it was probably independently invented by the Chinese.


【 在 VelocityGirl (Leave me alone) 的大作中提到: 】
: 【 以下文字转载自 History 讨论区 】
: 发信人: VelocityGirl (Leave me alone), 信区: History
: 标  题: 想到一个技术史的问题
: 发信站: BBS 水木清华站 (Sun Feb  8 08:44:13 2004), 转信
: 钥匙和锁是在什么时候发明的?
: 各个文明是分别独立发明还是从某个文明流传出去的？
: 如果存在不同的独立发明，那它们在结构和形式上有没有什么区别？
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