The oldest stone tools, 2 million years old, were found in Africa
Finds in the Olduvai Gorge, also known as the “Cradle of Humanity”, showed that the earliest people lived in a highly unstable environment. But they had the necessary skills to adapt to climate change, Nature Communications reported.
The gorge is located in East Africa. It contains the remains of early human ancestors, including extinct ones, numerous tools and other traces of the first primitive communities.
As part of the new study, scientists from the Max Planck Institute, along with colleagues from the University of Calgary (Canada) and the University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), excavated a previously underexplored area. They decided to explore the trail connecting the edge of the canyon to its bottom. They managed to find the oldest stone tools of all known – their age was estimated at about two million years.
Scientists have unearthed several layers of volcanic rocks. Modern technology has made it possible to date them relatively accurately. The results showed that people have continuously lived in this place for 200 thousand years (2-1.8 million years ago).
At that time, Homo sapiens did not exist yet, traces belonged to Homo habilis (Homo habilis). The condition of the rocks showed that the terrain had changed several times. Once the Olduvai Gorge was covered with forests, fern meadows, palm groves and lakes. But over 200 thousand years, ancient hominids had to survive global warming, forest fires, droughts and even volcanic eruptions.
Excavations have shown that Homo habilis, even under adverse conditions, remained in the gorge and adapted to life in a changed environment. At the same time, the primitive tools of the hominids did not change much. They used stone tools, carved from pebbles and cobblestones, as well as sharply pointed scales. With their help, they cut the carcasses of animals (for example, cattle).
“The settlement of various and unstable environments, including after volcanic activity, is one of the earliest examples of adaptation to major ecological transformations,” the authors of the scientific work noted.
Earlier it was reported that the oldest grinding tool was found in Israel. It is 350 thousand years old.
