{"id":52172,"date":"2025-03-07T22:25:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T22:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/our-ancestors-were-making-bone-tools-a-million-years-earlier-than-thought"},"modified":"2025-03-17T03:57:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T03:57:20","slug":"our-ancestors-were-making-bone-tools-a-million-years-earlier-than-thought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/our-ancestors-were-making-bone-tools-a-million-years-earlier-than-thought","title":{"rendered":"Our ancestors were making bone tools a million years earlier than thought"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong><\/span>Archaeologists have discovered the earliest known bone tools, pushing back evidence of their use by around a million years.<\/b><\/p>\n

The find suggests early humans had more advanced tool-making skills than previously thought.<\/p>\n

These 27 fossilised bones, shaped into tools 1.5 million years ago, are rewriting the history of early human technology.<\/p>\n

The collection, found in Tanzania\u2019s Olduvai Gorge, provides the earliest evidence of deliberate bone tool-making by ancient hominins.<\/p>\n

Carved from the thick leg bones of elephants and hippos, the implements reveal that early humans were using more complex toolkits than previously thought.<\/p>\n

Researchers know that simple stone tools were being made as far back as 3.3 million years ago. But until now, bone tools were believed to be a much later innovation.<\/p>\n

The well-preserved artifacts, some measuring up to 40 centimetres, show clear signs of intentional shaping.<\/p>\n

At the time they were created, our ancestors lived a precarious hunter-gatherer existence on the plans of the Serengeti region, a landscape teeming with wildlife.<\/p>\n

They made them using a technique similar to how stone tools are made, by chipping off small flakes to form sharp edges, revealing skilled craftsmanship.<\/p>\n

Dr Christine Adhiambo Ogola is an archaeologist at the National Museum of Kenya. She was not involved in the study.<\/p>\n

“Bone tools are not very common because they decompose. So, there is a chance that they have always been there and many of them. But because they decompose, what is left mostly is stone tools,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The tools were likely used as handheld axes for butchering animal carcasses, particularly scavenged remains of elephants and hippos.<\/p>\n

Unlike later tools, they were not mounted on handles or used as spears.<\/p>\n

Researchers say the uniform selection of bones, primarily large leg bones from specific animals, suggests early humans deliberately sought out the best raw materials for making tools.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not able to estimate exactly when they started using bone tools because there is a possibility that they were used much earlier. With evidence from chimpanzee use of bone tools, it means that humans at their development level could use also use them,” said Ogola.<\/p>\n

“And think about it in terms of time. When were humans at that level? It could have been up to 4-5 million years ago.”<\/p>\n

The discovery dates back more than a million years before Homo sapiens emerged. At the time, at least three different hominin species lived in the region, including Homo erectus, Homo habilis, and Paranthropus boisei.<\/p>\n

While it is unclear which species made the tools, researchers say the findings suggest early humans were not simply reacting to their environment but actively planning their tool-making and selecting materials with a clear purpose in mind.<\/p>\n

The discovery, published in the journal Nature, provides new insight into the evolving intelligence and adaptability of early human ancestors.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mauritius<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. Archaeologists have discovered the earliest known bone tools, pushing back evidence of their use by around a million years. The find suggests early humans had more advanced tool-making skills than previously thought. These 27 fossilised bones, shaped into tools 1.5 million years ago, are rewriting the history of early human technology. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":52171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[2507,5839,5840,241,3542,5841],"class_list":["post-52172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","tag-archaeology","tag-bones","tag-human-life","tag-mauritius","tag-researcher","tag-tool"],"yoast_head":"\nOur ancestors were making bone tools a million years earlier than thought - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Archaeologists have discovered the earliest known bone tools, pushing back evidence of their use by around a million ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/our-ancestors-were-making-bone-tools-a-million-years-earlier-than-thought\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our ancestors were making bone tools a million years earlier than thought\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Archaeologists have discovered the earliest known bone tools, pushing back evidence of their use by around a million ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/our-ancestors-were-making-bone-tools-a-million-years-earlier-than-thought\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-07T22:25:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-17T03:57:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2025\/03\/sm_1741375141.780546.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/our-ancestors-were-making-bone-tools-a-million-years-earlier-than-thought#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/our-ancestors-were-making-bone-tools-a-million-years-earlier-than-thought\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Our ancestors were making bone tools a million years earlier than thought\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-07T22:25:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-17T03:57:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/our-ancestors-were-making-bone-tools-a-million-years-earlier-than-thought\"},\"wordCount\":487,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/our-ancestors-were-making-bone-tools-a-million-years-earlier-than-thought#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2025\/03\/sm_1741375141.780546.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Archaeology\",\"bones\",\"human life\",\"Mauritius\",\"researcher\",\"Tool\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"culture and art\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/our-ancestors-were-making-bone-tools-a-million-years-earlier-than-thought#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/our-ancestors-were-making-bone-tools-a-million-years-earlier-than-thought\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/our-ancestors-were-making-bone-tools-a-million-years-earlier-than-thought\",\"name\":\"Our ancestors were making bone tools a million years earlier than thought - 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