Articles tagged with Stone Tools
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Researchers found that Acheulian tools required integration of visual working memory, auditory information, and complex action-planning - similar brain areas activated in modern piano playing. This suggests that language may not have played a crucial role in the evolution of early stone tool production.
Researchers found that fluted Clovis points have a thin groove that acts as a shock absorber, increasing point robustness and ability to withstand physical stress. The technique, absent in Northeast Asia, allowed early colonizers to travel long distances with confidence.
Researchers have discovered that capuchin monkeys in Brazil produce sharp-edged conchoidal flakes with smooth rounded facets, resembling the shape of scallop shells. These unintentionally produced flakes exhibit identical characteristics and morphology to intentionally produced hominin tools, dating back to 2.6 million years ago.
Researchers observed wild-bearded capuchin monkeys in Brazil creating fractured flakes and cores with characteristics of early Stone Age hominin tools. The monkeys' behavior suggests they may be extracting minerals or lichen from stones, but their actions are unintentional and distinct from human tool-making.
Researchers have found the oldest evidence of protein residue on stone tools used 250,000 years ago in Jordan, providing insights into the subsistence strategies of early humans. The discovery reveals that these ancient humans were adaptable and capable of taking advantage of various prey sources.
Researchers found that Brazilian capuchins used stones as hand-held hammers and anvils to pound open hard foods, creating recognizable cashew processing sites. The tools were made from smooth, hard quartzite stones and dark-colored residues confirmed the use of cashew nuts.
A new study has discovered the largest number of Neanderthal human remains in northern Europe, consisting of five individuals including four adults and a child. The remains show signs of cannibalism, with cut marks and percussion marks on many bones.
Researchers have discovered stone tools and faunal remains at the Page-Ladson site in Florida that date back around 14,550 years, challenging the long-held timeline for human settlement in the region. The findings provide strong evidence that humans and megafauna coexisted for at least 2,000 years.
A Florida archaeological site has provided new insights into the settlement of the Americas, revealing human presence in the southeastern United States up to 1,500 years earlier than previously thought. The site, dated to 14,550 years ago, includes stone tools and mastodon bones, providing a window into the lives of early inhabitants.
Scientists have reconstructed an early human landscape in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, providing insights into the lives of our ancestors. The site, which dated back 1.8 million years, showed a mix of woodland, grasslands, and wetlands, with hominins competing for food with carnivores.
A new Harvard University study suggests that early humans processed meat with stone tools to reduce chewing effort, allowing for a higher-quality diet and eventual emergence of hunting and gathering. By slicing meat and pounding vegetables, researchers found a significant reduction in the number of chews required per day.
The research provides greater evidence that humans were established in South America more than 15,000 years ago, supporting an earlier peopling of the Americas. The findings also underscore the importance of long-term interdisciplinary research and raise new questions about how the hemisphere was settled.
A study analyzing over 4,000 fossil bones from the Dikika site in Ethiopia confirms that marks on two 3.4 million-year-old animal bones were caused by butchery with stone tools, not trampling. The findings support a previous interpretation published in Nature in 2010 and provide new evidence for human evolution.
A study of Middle Stone Age stone tool technologies at Sibudu and Blombos revealed that similar types of tools were used by groups more than 1,000 km apart. However, differences in tool making were found between the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort assemblages, suggesting distinct cultural traditions.
The discovery of stone tools from Mughr el-Hamamah cave in Jordan provides evidence for the emergence of division of labor in early Upper Paleolithic humans. The tools, dating back to 40,000-45,000 years ago, show a mix of techniques and suggest that individuals were starting to live, work, and form families in larger social networks.
The discovery of stone tools in northwestern Kenya pushes the known date back by 700,000 years and may challenge the notion that modern humans' ancestors were the first to create such tools. The tools suggest an earlier group of proto-humans may have had the thinking abilities needed to figure out how to make sharp-edged tools.
Eighty percent of Burmese long-tailed macaques on an island in southern Thailand use stone and shell tools to crack open seafood, employing 17 different action patterns. The study catalogued tool use and action patterns, revealing one-handed hammering for precision striking and two-handed hammering for larger shells.
A new study by Yale University reveals that early human ancestors may have had precision grip capabilities comparable to modern humans. The research team created a kinematic model of the thumb and index finger of living primates and fossil remains, finding that even ancient species like Australopithecus afarensis had impressive dexterity.
A new study reveals that making a Lower Paleolithic hand axe requires complex cognitive control by the prefrontal cortex, including working memory and strategic thinking. The skill of making a hand axe is more complicated than previously thought, involving nuanced technological judgments.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have discovered the first direct evidence of prehistoric humans using stone tools to butcher animal carcasses. The analysis of 500,000-year-old flint tools found at a site in Israel revealed signs of animal residue and use-wear patterns consistent with butchering activities.
The Messak Settafet escarpment in the Saharan desert features a vast 'carpet' of stone-age tools, averaging 75 artefacts per square metre. The tools were extracted and discarded over hundreds of thousands of years, creating an entire landscape modified by hominins.
Researchers found that Australopithecus africanus, a 3-2 million-year-old species from South Africa, had a human-like trabecular bone pattern in the hand bones consistent with forceful opposition of the thumb and fingers. This suggests that early humans used their hands to exert precision and power, similar to modern humans.
Early human ancestors, such as Australopithecus africanus, used human-like hand postures for forceful precision and power gripping 3-2 million years ago. This discovery supports archaeological evidence for stone tool use among fossil australopiths.
Scientists have found a connection between early Stone Age slaughtering tools and the emergence of modern human communication. The study suggests that teaching and perhaps even proto-language occurred around 1.8 million years ago.
Researchers have discovered the oldest recorded stone tool ever found in Turkey, providing a major new insight into when and how early humans dispersed out of Africa and Asia. The discovery dates back to approximately 1.2 million years ago and was made using high-precision equipment.
Researchers discovered high-altitude Pleistocene sites in Peru, including Cuncaicha and Pucuncho Basin, indicating humans survived at altitudes over 4,400m. The findings suggest that people may have lived in these areas for extended periods without genetic adaptation.
A 325,000-year-old site in Armenia challenges old assumptions about human technological development by revealing the simultaneous use of two distinct technologies: biface and Levallois. The discovery highlights local innovation and flexibility rather than population expansion, suggesting that humans developed Levallois technology out o...
A new discovery of thousands of Stone Age tools has provided a major insight into human innovation 325,000 years ago. Researchers found that Levallois technology already existed in Armenia between 325,000 and 335,000 years ago, suggesting local populations developed it independently.
The study found that the non-dominant hand played a vital role in shaping modern human hand morphology, particularly in stone tool production. The researchers discovered that the thumb on the non-dominant hand was stronger and more robust than the fingers, enabling early humans to securely manipulate stone cores.
A new nomogram tool uses 11 questions to accurately calculate the probability of developing another symptomatic kidney stone at various time points. The tool helps determine whether preventive measures are needed, and can help patients avoid burdensome dietary restrictions or medications.
Researchers found that Neanderthals divided their shelters into different areas for various activities, including a hunting stand, base camp, and residential area. This discovery highlights the sophistication of Neanderthal spatial organization, challenging previous assumptions about their behavior and cognitive abilities.
Dr. Ellery Frahm's study challenges a widely held theory, suggesting ancient Syrians produced their own obsidian tools locally rather than importing from Turkey. This finding has implications for understanding how early cities developed and the geographic origins of raw materials.
A study led by Singapore's Nanyang Technological University found that Burmese long-tailed macaques' ability to use stone tools is under threat due to human farming and domestic dog introduction. The researchers advise Thailand's authorities to protect the animals' tool-using traditions in marine national parks.
Two research teams discovered Neandertal bone tools in southwest France, similar to later modern human sites and used today by high-end leather workers. The tools, called lissoirs, were made from deer ribs and polished for softening and water-resistance, dating back approximately 50 thousand years.
A new article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences refutes a theory that modern humans settled in southern Asia before the Mount Toba eruption. The research uses mitochondrial DNA evidence and other data to conclude that modern humans arrived in India no earlier than 60,000 years ago.
Researchers discover engraved stone artifact in northwest China, providing evidence of human symbolic and cognitive capabilities during the Late Paleolithic era. The find, dated to approximately 30 ka BP, suggests that humans in East Asia may have possessed complex communicative systems, including language.
Researchers studying human origins face uncertainty due to lack of agreement on interpreting marks on fossil bones. Creating standards for analyzing Pliocene bones is crucial to determine when early hominids began using tools, a fundamental step in human evolution.
Researchers confirm it is possible to make complex bamboo tools with simple stone tools, but find that prehistoric people preferred crudely made stone flakes instead. Bamboo knives were efficient for cutting meat but not hides, suggesting a preference for simpler tools.
A recent study challenges the long-held assumption that early humans were significantly different from modern humans. Archaeologist John Shea found no single behavioral revolution in human evolution, but rather wide variability in toolmaking strategies over time. This research has significant implications for understanding human behavi...
The study found that planning complex tasks was key for making sophisticated hand axes, suggesting higher cognition involved. The results point to links between tool-making and language evolution, with the brain's Broca's area playing a role.
Researchers found that early humans developed relatively advanced tools only after their brains evolved a greater capacity for complex thought, according to a new study. The team used computer modeling and sensors embedded in gloves to assess the complex hand skills required for tool-making during the Lower Palaeolithic period.
Researchers have discovered the oldest evidence of pressure flaking in South Africa's Blombos Cave, pushing the origins of a skillful stone-tool-sharpening method back more than 50,000 years. The technique, used by anatomically modern humans, allows for precise control over tool shape and sharpness.
Researchers found bones bearing unambiguous evidence of stone tool use, including cut marks made while carving meat off the bone. The discovery provides the first evidence that Lucy's species, Australopithecus afarensis, used stone tools and consumed meat, shifting the known timeframe of a game-changing behaviour for our ancestors.
The discovery of fossilized bones with cut marks in Ethiopia pushes the timeline of stone tool use and meat consumption back by nearly a million years. The evidence suggests that early human ancestors, such as Australopithecus afarensis, used stone tools to butcher meat from large mammals.
Researchers from Arizona State University analyzed fossilized animal bone fragments to find evidence of sharp-edged stones being used to remove flesh and marrow. This discovery pushes back the origins of technology and carnivory by 800,000 years.
Researchers at Hebrew University of Jerusalem discovered evidence of sophisticated human behavior dating back 750,000 years. The findings indicate a formalized conceptualization of living space, suggesting advanced social organization and communication skills.
Researchers propose primate archaeology as a new field to study tool-use in humans and non-humans, integrating methods from both archaeology and primatology. This interdisciplinary approach aims to improve understanding of cognitive evolution and provide valuable data on human and non-human primate behavior.
Researchers found that most obsidian flakes originated in Kamchatka, suggesting a key role in maintaining social relationships among people living in the isolated Kuril Islands. The study's findings indicate that connections with other communities were essential for survival.
A new study published in the Journal of Human Evolution debunks a long-held assumption that Homo sapiens were more intelligent than Neanderthals. The research team recreated stone tools used by both species and found no clear advantage in terms of efficiency. This finding challenges the traditional narrative that Homo sapiens outcompet...
Researchers found that New Caledonian crows use two tools better than one to get a snack, rivaling great apes in tool-use skills. The birds solve the problem by using analogical reasoning, which requires seeing a novel situation as similar to a previous one.
Researchers discovered evidence that chimpanzees used stone tools to crack nuts around 4300 years ago, pushing back the origin of this behavior by thousands of years. The study found similarities between chimpanzee and human ancestors' cultural attributes, suggesting a possible common ancestor for these behaviors.
Researchers find evidence of early human stone tools and bone marrow extraction at Majuangou site, suggesting strong connections to African hominins and rapid spread across Asia. The discovery pushes the known timeline of human presence in Northeast Asia by approximately 340,000 years.
Despite historical perception that men made stone tools, a UF study found that women in the Konso ethnic group of Ethiopia dominate this activity, creating scrapers for animal hides. The discovery highlights the importance of stone tools in the archaeological record and sheds light on the role of women in prehistory.
A team of scientists excavated a chimpanzee nut-cracking site in West Africa, uncovering new facets and confirming existing knowledge about chimpanzee tool behavior. The study suggests that some Oldowan sites may be re-interpreted as nut-cracking sites, providing new insights into human evolution.
Researchers have discovered the remains of seven types of edible nuts and stone tools used to crack them open at the Gesher Benot Ya'aqov site. The findings suggest that hominins in the region had a diverse diet, including nuts with high nutritional value.
A new study of ancient stone tools in Eritrea reveals that early humans harvested seafood in Africa around 125,000 years ago. The discovery suggests a widespread adaptive strategy in early human behavior that spread across the continent between 115,000 and 125,000 years ago.
Researchers have found nearly complete fossil cranium and skullcap in Dmanisi, Georgia, dating back to 1.7 million years ago. The discovery suggests early human species may have left Africa earlier than previously thought, with the possibility that they were driven by appetite for more protein.
New research on prehistoric stone tools in Colombia's tropics has found no correlation between tool shape and function. The study concluded that prehistoric people used their simple tools for various purposes, including hunting, butchering, and working wood, regardless of the tool's shape.
New radiocarbon dating reveals Neandertals coexisted with early modern humans in central Europe for thousands of years, casting doubt on theories of extinction and migration. The findings also suggest potential genetic exchange between Neandertals and modern humans.
Paleomagnetic dating indicates that humans or their ancestors lived in Spain over 780,000 years ago. The technique, pioneered by Josep Pares, measures magnetic minerals in rocks to determine the age of human fossils and tools. This discovery sheds new light on early human evolution in Africa and Asia.