An ancient workshop hidden in the folds of time, buried under layers of history. Have you ever wondered how intelligent theHomo erectus? We have probably always underestimated our ancestors, relegating them to the role of simple evolved chimpanzees capable only of chipping a few stones. But the bone tools found at the iconic site of Olduvai Gorge, in Tanzania, tell a completely different story.
A story that anticipates by a million years what we thought we knew about the ability of Homo erectus to think abstractly, to transfer knowledge from one material to another, to plan and create standardized tools.
The unexpected revelation of archaeologists
Archaeologists have once again shaken up our beliefs; they almost seem to enjoy reshuffling the cards of our understanding of the past. And that is exactly what happened when they unearthed a collection of 27 mass-produced bone tools, the oldest ever discovered. Older of a good million years compared to what we thought so far.
According to the study published on Nature (I link it here), these tools were made about 1,5 million years ago. These are not random or isolated findings, but a real "factory" of tools; a fact that, according to the scholars involved, demonstrates how Homo erectus showed advanced abstract thinking already in the early stages of its evolution.
The tools show evidence that their makers carefully worked the bones, chipping them into useful shapes.
Homo erectus, the cognitive complexity of our ancestors
What I find fascinating is not just the antiquity of these objects, but the cognitive leap they represent. I like to think of those ancient relatives who, after learning to chip stone, look at an elephant bone and think, “Hey, I could do that here.” A eureka moment that happened a million and a half years ago!
Renata F. Peters, an archaeologist of theUniversity College London involved in the discovery, he expressed contagious enthusiasm. His excitement comes not just from the antiquity of the objects, but from what they represent: the ability to transfer skills from stone to bone, a level of complex cognition we haven’t seen anywhere else for another million years.
- little men (that taxonomic “tribe” that includes humans and human ancestors who walked upright) had been making stone tools for several million years. But their techniques did not remain unchanged over time; they evolved, just like the species that used them.
The evolution of processing techniques
It almost seems like a paradox, but these ancient bone craftsmen were already “professionals” in their field. At the beginning of the Oldowan age, about 2,7 million years ago, hominins used simple methods to chip some fragments from stones. But with the beginning of the Acheulean age, about 1,7 million years ago, they began to use much more complex methods.
This more sophisticated manufacturing technique, known as chipping, allowed them to mass-produce sharp, standardized tools from stone. But it also apparently allowed them to mass-produce sharp, standardized tools from bone, which we didn't think was possible at the time.
Bone tools are relatively rare and isolated in the archaeological record until about 500.000 years ago, when systematic production of these tools was thought to have begun. But this discovery forces us to recalibrate all our assumptions about the evolutionary timeline of processing techniques.
The discovery that changes our understanding of the past
The archaeologist Ignatius of the Tower, another author of the study and a researcher at theInstitute of History of the CSIC-Spanish National Research Council, hit the nail on the head when he said that this discovery leads us to assume that early humans had many more technological options.
It's like discovering that a child you thought only knew how to draw has actually already written a story.
The tools, made from the limb bones of large mammals, mainly elephants and hippopotamuses, were strong and robust: probably suitable for processing animal carcasses for food. It is not difficult to imagine the scene: a group of Homo erectus who slaughters an elephant with tools made from the bones of another elephant.
The Cognitive Leap of Homo Erectus
According to the Archaeologists, the transition from stone to bone is a real abstract thinking enterprise, which requires toolmaking skills and the ability to understand that chipping techniques that work on one material will also work on another.
Of the tower he emphasized how this expansion of technological potential indicates progress in the cognitive abilities and mental structures of these hominins, who knew how to incorporate technical innovations by adapting their knowledge of stone working to the manipulation of bone remains.
At least two species of human ancestors inhabited the region about 1,5 million years ago, including a species of Australopithecus and a species of Homo, the latter being Homo erectus. This discovery is a window into the minds of our ancient ancestors, an opportunity to reflect on how ancient and profound our capacity to think creatively, to innovate, to adapt and improve is. Perhaps the next time we call ourselves “the tool-using animal,” we should remember that this story has roots far, far deeper. really much deeper than we thought.
