Home > Mechanical > World’s Oldest Tool Kit Discovered In Africa Dating Back Over 2.6 Million Years

World’s Oldest Tool Kit Discovered In Africa Dating Back Over 2.6 Million Years

The tools include the first known knives, and were dug up at a site known as Bokol Dora 1 or BD 1 in the Afar region of north-eastern Ethiopia

The world’s first tool kit has been unearthed in Africa. It was crafted by early humans around 2.61 million years ago – and includes the first known knives.

They were made by shearing sharp flakes of stone from larger rocks to cut meat and other resources.

It would have provided access to a higher quality diet, say scientists. They were found with animal bones of antelopes, prehistoric elephants, primitive hippos, crocodiles and fish.

The tools were dug up at a site known as Bokol Dora 1 or BD 1 in the Afar region of north-eastern Ethiopia.

The world’s oldest tool kit (Image: David R. Braun)

A team has been working ever since to find out if there is a connection with the origins of systematic stone tool manufacture.

Geologist Professor Christopher Campisano, of Arizona State University in the US, saw the sharp-edged stone tools sticking out of the sediments on a steep, eroded slope.

He said: “At first we found several artifacts lying on the surface, but we didn’t know what sediments they were coming from.

“But when I peered over the edge of a small cliff, I saw rocks sticking out from the mudstone face.

“I scaled up from the bottom using my rock hammer and found two nice stone tools starting to weather out.”

The tools were dug up at a site known as Bokol Dora 1 or BD 1 in the Afar region of north-eastern Ethiopia 

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests they may have been invented many times in many ways before becoming an essential part of the human lineage.

It took years to excavate through metres of rocks by hand before exposing an archaeological layer of animal bones and hundreds of small pieces of chipped stone.

They represent the earliest evidence of our direct ancestors making and using stone knives.

The site records a wealth of information about how and when humans began to use stone tools.

Preservation of the artifacts comes from originally being buried close to a water source.

Archaeologist Vera Aldeias, of the University of Algarve in Portugal, said: “Looking at the sediments under a microscope, we could see the site was exposed only for a very short time.

“These tools were dropped by early humans at the edge of a water source and then quickly buried.”

The animals found with these tools were similar to those found only a couple of miles away with the earliest Homo fossils.

Prof Kaye Reed, who studies the site’s ecology at Arizona State, said: “The early humans that made these stone tools lived in a totally different habitat than ‘Lucy’ did.”

Bokol Dora, Ethiopia

Prof Reed said: “The habitat changed from one of shrubland with occasional trees and riverine forests to open grasslands with few trees. Even the fossil giraffes were eating grass!”

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Older hammering or “percussive” stone tools have been found in Kenya that date to 3.3 million years ago.

But the new tools are the oldest artifacts so far ascribed to the ‘Oldowan’ technology – typified by what are known as “choppers.”

They are stone cores with flakes removed from part of the surface – creating a sharpened edge that was used for cutting and scraping.

They were originally named after finds from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and are distinct from tools made by chimpanzees, monkeys or earlier human ancestors.

The major differences appear to be the ability for our ancestors to systematically chip off smaller sharp-edged tools from larger nodules of stone.

They became more accurate and skilled at striking the edge of stones to make tools. The BD 1 artifacts captures this shift.

It appears that this shift in tool making occurred around the same time that our ancestor’s teeth began to change. This can be seen in the earliest Homo jaw bone.

As our ancestors began to process food with stone tools before eating it we start to see a reduction in the size of their teeth.

Our technology and biology were intimately intertwined even as early as 2.6 million years ago.

“It seems very possible throughout Africa many different human ancestors found new ways of using stone artifacts to extract resources from their environment.

“If our hypothesis is correct then we would expect to find some type of continuity in artifact form after 2.6 million years ago, but not prior to this time period. We need to find more sites.”

Source: MIrror

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