The first bone toolbox

We have been using tools for millions. Does more than three million years, and when the Homo sapiens I was not even on the horizon, sticks were used to those who shape to perform certain tasks. Subsequently, stone tools came to hit, cut or scrape and, more recently, bone. Bone tools were not only more elaborate, but also more versatile to be able to carve them to create more precise ways and

The oldest bone tools dated about 500,000 years ago and were found in European deposits, but a new finding has staggered that belief system and rewored one million years.

A milestone. Until now, we believed that the Homo sapiens He had the monopoly of the first industry of systematic bone size to create tools, but a team of CSIC researchers (the Higher Council for Scientific Research) has uncovered Something that puts that idea up.

It was not half a million years ago when hominids began to systematically create bone tools, but 1.5 million years ago. The key to all this? The finding of the oldest bone toolbox “discovered to date.

The toolbox. In a study published in NatureThe team details a set of 27 tools found in the Olduvai throat, in Tanzania. It is the region known as the cradle of humanity due to the numerous archaeological remains of tools that allowed the evolution of civilizations.

In the study, researchers comment that before their finding, bone tools were considered episodic and not very representative of the first tools sets Homo. However, so many tools found in the same place exposes a totally different situation: they created them systematically and routinely.

Swiss razor. Several of these tools have almond shape, presenting pointed ends, sharp edges and an oval intermediate zone. In statements a The avant -garderesearcher Ignacio de la Torre, from the CSIC History Institute, says they were authentic “Swiss knives” due to their versatility, since they used them “for all kinds of activities: both those that needed a shear edge and those that required a resistant tip.”

Chance. The most curious thing is that, like so many times, in the discovery there was something that played a leading role: luck. De la Torre comments that the discovery was casual due. They were investigating the area due to their archaeological wealth when, suddenly, they found a tool. As it was so obvious that it was this type of gadget, they search between the collection of remains they already had and found a pattern.

“If you don’t expect to find something, there are many times that you escape, since you are not looking with your eyes appropriate,” says the researcher. And, the result of that chance, we have been able to fill a historical void between the standardized use of stone tools millions of years ago and that of bone tools 500,000 years ago.

Perception of animals. Beyond the archaeological importance of the tools themselves, this finding changes the perception we have of the civilizations of that moment. De la Torre comments that, thanks to this discovery, “we can say that humans already had primary access to meat resources” at the beginning of the Achelense period -when the site of the Olduvai throat was formed.

For hundreds of thousands of years, hominids saw animals as a danger and a source of food. Also as competition, since they competed in hunting against hyenas and felines. However, De la Torre considers that, with this finding, those hominids no longer saw animals as food, “but also a source of raw materials with which to manufacture tools.” And those found are forged from bones of mammals as large as elephants or hippos.

Uploading a civilization. And, of course, access to these tools is a better technology and, therefore, a series of crucial innovations for the evolution of civilization. “By producing technologically and morphologically standardized bone tools, the first Achelenses carver developed technological repertoires that were previously thought to have appeared more than a million years later,” says De la Torre.

“This innovation could have had a significant impact on the behavioral and adaptive potential of the first humans, including improvements in their cognitive abilities, technological development and in the acquisition of raw materials,” he adds, pointing out the importance of tools to “upload a step” in civilization.

And a mystery. Although the discovery, as researchers point out, is historical, there is an important issue that flies over this finding: it is not known who the toolbox was. The reason is that no human remains have been found together with them, which makes it impossible to identify the culture to which they belonged.

It is known that Homo erectus and the Paranthopus Boisei They lived in Olduvai at that time, so it is likely that the box belonged to one of these species and those responsible for their technological development were, but it is something that cannot be assured. At least, of course, right now.

The obvious is what we commented: apart from not knowing What species belongedwhat they show is that we start using sophisticated tools a lot, a lot before what was thought.

Images | Nature, CSIC

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