New evidence discovered in East Africa suggests that ancient hominids began crafting tools from animal bones much earlier than previously thought. If confirmed, our human ancestors began shaping bones by striking them at specific angles in a process known as knapping about 1.5 million years ago. The
findings come after Paleolithic archaeologists led by Ignacio de la Torre at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) analyzed bone fragments from the Olduvai Gorge site in northern Tanzania. Located in the Great Rift Valley and stretching approximately 29 miles across the Serengeti Plains, Olduvai Gorge is considered one of the most important paleoanthropological treasures to date, and has advanced our understanding of early human life since its discovery more than a century ago.
In this discovery, paleoarchaeologists discovered 27 tools derived primarily from ancient hippo and elephant bones, measuring up to 1.25 feet in length. As the team explained in their study published March 5 in the journal Nature , the new information implies that hominin abilities for adaptation and crafting extend much further back in our evolutionary timeline.
Before the latest discoveries from Olduvai Gorge, the earliest evidence for the systematic production of bone tools worked with flaking techniques came from European sites dated between 400,000 and 250,000 years ago. Meanwhile, those found in pre-Middle Stone Age African paleoanthropological contexts have been “widely regarded as episodic, convenient, and unrepresentative of early Homo toolkits.” The Olduvai Gorge bones, however, do not appear to have been shaped randomly, but instead exhibit a uniformity that indicates a practiced methodology and strategy.
“Excellent understanding of bone fracture mechanics is demonstrated by the preferential use of fresh bones of large mammals and the application of recurrent chipping procedures,” the researchers wrote, adding that: “Mental models are suggested by the production of morphologically similar bone tools, elongated, pointed and notched.”
It’s not just the age of the bone tools that is striking to the researchers, but their overall historical context. The study authors believe that integrating the material into ancient hominin toolkits at least 1.5 million years ago places them at a “pivotal moment in the evolution of African cultural adaptations,” particularly in the late Oldowan and early Acheulean periods.
These developments “may have had a profound effect on the complexification of behavioral repertoires observed in the later period,” including enhanced cognitive abilities, tool curation, and raw material collection techniques.
