Teeth and knives.
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You can just tear the excess off when they get too long
😬
A rough porous rock to sand 'em down might work too?
I imagine our ancestors didn't have to worry about that too much since if they weren't working at something every waking moment, they'd starve to death. The nails would have been kept in check just through constant contact with abrasive surfaces of some type.
just like dogs. many domesticated dogs need nail trims, but if they're outside digging and running a lot, the nails just wear themselves down
I imagine our ancestors didn't have to worry about that too much since if they weren't working at something ~~every waking moment~~ for a few hours per day , they'd starve to death.
FTFY
You can peel your nails. I haven't used a clipper in decades
Sandpaper has been around for a while
When I was younger I just used my teeth. Not particularly good for your teeth AFAIK, but it's very effective.
If mine get too long they start chipping and I don’t even work with my hands too much. I imagine it was just a steady state of broken nails.