Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

World's Oldest Stone Tools Discovered In Kenya

Posted by Soulskill on from the when-all-you-have-is-a-stone-flake,-everything-looks-like-a-bone-chip dept.

sciencehabit writes: Researchers say they have found the oldest tools made by human ancestors—stone flakes dated to 3.3 million years ago. That's 700,000 years older than the oldest-known tools to date, suggesting that our ancestors were crafting tools several hundred thousand years before our genus Homo arrived on the scene. If correct, the new evidence could confirm disputed claims for very early tool use, and it suggests that ancient australopithecines like the famed 'Lucy' may have fashioned stone.

2 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. Quick, remove everything by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Before IS and their Al-Shabaab buddies come and blow those non-muslim relics to smithereens...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  2. Re:why must human ancestors be involved by gsslay · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You don't know which species had "human-like" intelligence 3.3 million years ago. There were a number of "human-like" species that aren't our ancestors.