Early Stone Tools
Oldowan stone tools made from a variety of raw materials sourced more than six miles away from where they were found in southwestern Kenya.
E.M. Finestone, J.S. Oliver, Homa Peninsula Paleoanthropology Project
Durable and versatile tools like these were crafted from special stone materials collected up to eight miles away, according to new research led by scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Queens College. Their findings, published Aug. 15 in the journal Science Advances, push back the earliest known evidence of ancient humans transporting resources over long distances by some 600,000 years.
The development of the Oldowan toolkit made it possible for early humans to consume large prey. Around 3 million years ago, ancient hominins began refining their toolmaking, using hammerstones to strike stone cores and create sharp-edged flakes. By pounding, slicing and scraping, these stone tools could process and refine a greater variety of plant and animal materials.
E.M. Finestone, J.S. Oliver, Homa Peninsula Paleoanthropology Project
