There has been a new discovery that trumps the previous tools found as far as historical dates are concerned. The world’s oldest tools are now a set of stone flaked tools dated to approximately 3-million years old. This could have very wide implications regarding the capabilities of our human ancestors at that time. It is believed that they were used by the Australopithecus genus. Sonia Hamand, lead researcher in this discovery, brought her vast experience from her dealings as an archaeologist at Stony Brook University in New York, and was able to help reveal that these are indeed now the world’s oldest tools.
This great new discovery was unveiled at the yearly Paleoanthropology Society meeting, held in San Francisco earlier in the week. The Society makes an effort to actively keep everyone in the field informed of all of the news and discoveries that occur, as well as provide different activities and events that budding paleoanthropologists can take part in.
Previous Oldest Tools Found
Before this newest discovery showing the world’s oldest tools, as seen at the Paleoanthropology Society, there were previous discoveries like it. The first of this list was the discovery of similar flaked stone tools found in Ethiopia back in 1994, and was dated to be approximately 2-million years old. The next discovery, which trumped this one, was in 2010 and showed the use of tools when they found cut marks on animal bones that were also located near an Australopithecus child’s remains. This last discovery was met with much skepticism as many in the scientific community were not convinced that our ancestors would have had the knowledge to create such tools during this period in time.
This new discovery is revolutionizing the way that paleoanthropologists consider human history and see how even our oldest ancestors had the knowledge of how to make and use tools. There are currently over 20 pieces that have been found at this particular site that gives researchers more to study and go on than just one piece. Science Magazine has also published an article recently on this topic, showing the great leaps and bounds that have been made by the scientific community in this area.
Future of Paleoanthropology.
Through the cooperation of marvelous institutions such as the University of Wisconsin, and the California Academy of Sciences in providing their finest researchers to this cause, we are better able to understand the full implications of the world’s oldest tools. You can learn more through the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
The future of paleoanthropology looks very bright due to this latest finding. With the world’s oldest tools found, there is much to learn and re-evaluate about what both the scientific community and the public can take from these amazing tools and continue to the discovery to help further understanding of our Australopithecus ancestors.
Watch this video of another beautiful lake and its activity in timelapse form – Lake Waubesa in Wisconsin:
https://youtu.be/CmEi_CxbRkk
