The tool described as primitive may have demanded skill its label barely acknowledges.

Calling something primitive usually says more about the observer than the object. A tool with no mechanism puts all the difficulty into the hand using it, which means the skill lived in the person and left no trace once they were gone. Later generations see the plain object, assume plain work, and quietly patronise people who were better at something than we are. Simple equipment often means complicated technique.

Try, at some point, doing a job by the older method: a hand saw, a needle, a paper map. Half an hour is usually enough to change your estimate of whoever used it daily.