First Human Tools 1.76 Million Years Ago

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“A study dates human tools like this ax to 1.76 million years ago.”

(p. A8) A new geological study, being reported Thursday in the journal Nature, showed that tools from a site near Lake Turkana in Kenya were made about 1.76 million years ago, the earliest of their ilk found so far. Previous dates were estimates ranging from 1.4 million to 1.6 million years ago.

Although no erectus fossils were found with the Turkana tools, a skull of that species was excavated last year in the same sediment level across the lake. This suggests that Homo erectus was responsible for these particular tools, which were made with what scientists refer to as Acheulean technology. The term connotes the type of oval and pear-shaped hand axes and other implements that were a specialty of early humans.

For the full story, see:
JOHN NOBLE WILFORD. “Earliest Signs of Advanced Tools Found.” The New York Times (Thurs., September 1, 2011): A8.
(Note: ellipsis added.)
(Note: the online version of the article was dated August 31, 2011.)

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