A discovery on the Homa peninsula in south-western Kenya is forcing a review of the history of early hominin technology.
Researchers have identified a 2.6-million-year-old set of stone tools at the Nyayanga site, made from rocks transported up to 13 kilometres. This discovery brings forward by more than half a million years the earliest known evidence of systematic transport of raw materials.
Geochemical analysis of the tools shows that the makers consciously selected materials that were more resistant than those available in the immediate environment, such as rhyolite and quartzite. This behaviour reveals a more complex spatial planning and memory capacity than previously thought for this evolutionary stage.
In addition to lithic cores and flakes, fossil hippopotamus remains with cut marks and Paranthropus teeth were found at Nyayanga. The coincidence of these finds opens up the possibility that different hominin lineages were involved in the early development of technology.
Researchers point out that such practices marked a leap in the adaptability of our ancestors. The selection and transport of quality resources not only optimised food production, but also laid the foundations for a permanent relationship between humanity and technology.
Source: sciencenews.org; livescience.com