Old flint and link to make fire

Production of fire by percussion.
A link, chispero or tinderbox is a piece of iron with a high carbon content or steel alloy from which sparks are made to fly when struck against a flint stone or similar rock.

In primitive times a percussion link was used to start a fire. Before the discovery of steel, different varieties of pyrite ormarcasite were used, along with flint and other stones, to produce high-temperature sparks by striking or friction that were used to start a fire.

From the Iron Age until the invention of friction matches, the usual way to light a fire was to strike a piece of steel against a piece of flint.