Stone tools have pretty much been thought to be the handiwork of our genus Homo.
That is in a state of change. The Austrolopiths were not considered big brained enough or smart enough to manufacture stone tools.
Some questioning of that has been made in recent years due to the fact that bones of the hand in the more primitive genus would allow for tool making.
Australopithecus africanus and other Pleistocene hominins, traditionally considered not to have made stone tools, have a human-like trabecular bone pattern in their hand bones that’s consistent with tool use.
A new site in Kenya is further supporting this.
The site is 3.3 million years old and is already linked to Kenyanthropus platyops which is definitely not Homo genus.
Now, the Lomekwi artifacts show that those ideas are correct – at least one group of ancient hominin started intentionally knapping stones to make tools long before previously thought. These new archaeological finds are yet another paradigm-shifting discovery from the Lake Turkana basin.
As is often the case this site was discovered by accident after taking a wrong turn but feeling a good feel about the place. The team fanned out and it wasn't long before someone stumble upon an artifact.
Many of my best finds have simply been from getting a feeling about a place when running around doing field work.
I have often picked up the best artifacts within a couple of minutes of arrival and then when going back later only to find not much more of interest is easily accessible.
Good job, I think, is somehow the same like when you force yourself to write something interesting for example, but nothing comes and when you are relaxed and detach, all the inspirational wave starts flowing..
Exactly, forcing it doesn't work... when the mind is quiet, inspiration works its magic.
Nice Post! That has to be one of the coolest job to dig old stuff up for a living.
^UPVOTE^
Also, Dude, Homo is not the preferred nomenclature...
LOL... paleo-anthropologically speaking
Upvote for 'nomenclature', wow!
It has become clear with more evidence that the origin of our genus remains murky, and that Homo may not have been the earliest toolmaker and meat eater in our family tree.
that is for sure
was Homo the first species in our line of evolution to expand their range beyond tropical and subtropical environments into temperate climatic zones of the Old World, where they encountered relatively cold winters?
Jury is out... to little info
this world will be grateful if u found more useful items like those u have stated
Serendipity!
we underestimate the life around us so much
boon
interesting article!
Hello brother @gavvet
I would like to say thank you for your great help
I appreciate that much, and I do not forget the help that I get
شكرا اخى كثير على المساعدة
( جزاك الله خير )
If its possible to enter time machines and interview our early ancestors in order go get to the truth of who invented the first stone tool, I will power down and buy a ticket...Good post indeed and thanks for your great contents
Someone will claim false credit... we could just go to the patent office...
Great, lets use our steem power to cover the costs...good one
what a crazy discovery.....
Good post
yea .. this makes me so proud .. the early men were so smart and intelligent :) @gavvet .. lets do something like this and inform people too .. instead of working hard on nuclear, biological weapons :( that may cause big threat to this happy world !!
Nice post , resteem Anda upvote
yeah... well... monkeys use rocks too.
They use rocks as tools, but they don't make specifically shaped tools out of rocks, there is a difference.
give it time. Soon they discover rocks can be shaped :D
I just don't see it as a very significant find.
We are very intelligent and started using tools. So it doesn't come as a surprise other strains of "prehumans" did the same.
They have taught captive chimps to knock flakes of one rock using another rock and using it to cut things.
However the chimps revert to just throwing the rock on the floor because that also produces flakes which work just as well, if all you want is something quick to cut with.
I didn't know that. They are smart.
It's so awesome when science finds out new things about our past. :D
Seems like an interesting job! Is like when we were young and were searching for so called treasures! But, when we are talking about 3.3 milion years old rocks, you lose me!!!
Nice article. There is so much we don't know. Why is it that we think a huge brain is needed to do things?
upvoted and resteemed!
Great post!
Interesting post
thanks for sharing
you are amazing
Very interesting article with some great videos! Ypu never know what you're going to discover :)
Sometimes I think what would have happened if these homo species were present today, then what would have been the scenario. What do you think abt it?
It is almost always accidental discovery when it comes to science. We work on something and and then discover something else.
The hard graft puts one in the right place at the right time or the right frame of mind
Indeed
Haven't we seen tool use in other primates and even birds like crows?
Or, is this tool-making as well?
Tool use is common in the animal kingdom, these are usually simple unmodified objects.
Wood is easy to manufacture a tool from, stone on the other hand requires a lot more cognitive ability to consistently manufacture a recognizable tool kit.
Nice, this intuition probably took years to develop and now you get to rely on it. Some people may call it lucky, I call it deep expertise.
What do you think about chimps making tools for getting ants and termites?
Yup, we used to think we were the only ones to use tools until... there is also an element of manufacture here, but sticks twigs and grass are a long cognitive leap from manufactured stone tool kits
Though when the anthropologists have tried to use twigs and grass to get some termites or ants, they have been quite unsuccessful. ;)
We use to catch termites with a grass stalk as kids, not hard if you have the right termites.
Waao that's cool
All the best discoveries happened by accident. Interesting to know about the earlier kind making tools before the Homo
and someone will soon claim they found it first, good to know you wrote on it before someone else claims credit...I think this might be eureka!
I suppose it all depends what you consider a tool is a sharpened stone - a Sharpened stick etc. Still very interesting
But how can you necessarily prove it wasn't created by chance
the flakes have very distinctive features, you can see clearly it in the top image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulb_of_applied_force
Hello, thanks for this article. I am always glad to see some scientific stuff here. We should always learn from our history. We are trying to do so as well to improve our conservation effort.
If you are interested more about our conservation activities, check it out!
Thanks
I don't know, looks like anything could have happened to cause one rock to break into two. To claim it was manufactured that way is a bit of a stretch, it didn't look like a very useful tool to me. I think ancient species of upright walking bipeds would have made better tools, even for their first time. Something like an arrow or a hammer. This just looked like a rock that was split in two and likely from falling off a high place, or melting together from lava in a weak way as to where it slid apart at one point, or maybe it was thrown at a coconut high up in a tree by an ape or something.
Its amazing how far back we keep finding things, it just goes to show you how little we really know.
I have actually used rocks as tools and even made my own arrow heads out of beautiful blue stones I found in the Hills of Nevada... You post just gave me an idea for a new post... I better get my camera ready...lol... Thanks for reading...
@pocketechange
Great article! Thanks for sharing.
Many discoveries were made by "accident". But, I don't believe it was accidental. It was the moment you mentioned when a person relaxes and unconscious mind takes over. It finds something new and then the conscious mind acknowledges the discovery.
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Chimps has been found of using grass leaves and sticks as tools to get ants to eat.
sure, just not using sophisticated manufactured tools that are hard to make from stone to deliver a razor sharp cutting edge
This is very interesting and the last line about accidental discovery is absolutely true. In the field of paleontology, many of the sea monsters we have discovered, have been just casualty!
Learning about those who came before us, can help us understand ourselves.
Following you now- I just taught my class about early cavemen at school- primary level- the 3 main homo's. nice article.
Amazing. For as much as we know, we know so little. I love that their are still so many hard working people out there looking to find more and more about our past. Keep it up!!