The History and Future of Locks and Keys

Of all the technology you use on a daily basis, you probably pay the least attention to the mechanical miracles that keep your home or your gym bag secure. Locks and keys have been around for millennia, but they are undergoing one of their rare historic shifts — from mechanical to electronic, from isolated to interconnected.

This change is one of the most extreme innovations in security since the invention of the wooden pin lock in Mesopotamia, some 6,000 years ago. Where the original locks gave people the ability to leave possessions unattended, the locks of the future could serve as attendants themselves, personalizing security and keeping track of who is coming and going.

Whether that’s an improvement over carrying around anonymous, crooked pieces of metal to get into our homes is an open question.

The Origin of the Lock

The earliest known locking mechanisms were discovered by archaeologists in the mid-19th century at the Palace of Khorsabad in modern day Iraq. The rudimentary key and lock system dates back to 4000 B.C., when the area would have been the Mesopotamian kingdom of Assyria. The wooden design is remarkably similar to modern-day locks — or at least the underlying principle is the same.

It’s known as a pin lock. Basically, pins of varying length inside the locking mechanism would prevent the door from opening unless the proper key was inserted. The key would push the pins up so that the wooden bolt that kept the door secure could be moved out of the way.

At this point in history, the only alternative to this simple lock for securing a door would have been posting a guard there. So you can comprehend the convenience. Read More…