New fieldwork in West Turkana, Kenya, has identified evidence of much earlier hominin technological behaviour. The finding suggests that members of the genus Homo — the biological grouping that includes our own species, Homo sapiens — were not the first to shape stones for their own purposes. Technology of the Lomekwi 3 stone tools Based on the lithic material recovered in 2011 and 2012, the current total assemblage ( n 5 149 surface and in situ artefacts) incorporates Hyping and over-simplification by the popular media of scientific findings are a fact of life, and I understand the need to find an "angle" for a summary story. al . Human evolutionary scholars have long supposed that the earliest stone tools were made by the genus Homo and that this technological development was directly linked to climate change and the spread of savannah grasslands. He lives in Bellevue, Wash. IE 11 is not supported. 8 Lomekwi-Stone-Tools. Harmand told Nature that the find was a case of serendipity: "We were driving in a dry riverbed, and took the left branch instead of the right, and ended up in a new area that looked promising. [1] Previously, evidence of stone tool use by Australopithecus has been suggested on the basis of marks on animal bones, but those findings have been hotly debated, with no scientific consensus forming on either side of the debate. The Lomekwi 3 knappers, with a developing understanding of stone’s fracture properties, combined core reduction with battering activities. But, there's no evidence that any tools were used at this site, and the finds themselves are described as anomalous: : The tools were generally quite large – larger than the oldest known Lomekwi Stone Tools Oldest stone tools ever discovered, dated to 3.3 million years old. New fieldwork in West Turkana, Kenya, has identified evidence of much earlier hominin technological behaviour. He joined MSNBC.com at its inception in July 1996, and took on the science role in July 1997 with the landing of NASA's Mars Pathfinder probe. Archaeologists Take Wrong Turn, Find World’s Oldest Stone Tools – Kate Wong, Scientific American, 2015 This Is Forgotten Technology – Man Lifts 20 Ton Block By Hand More than 4000 years ago, during the Stone Age, the Britons raised … "They are extremely different from anything found previously, and are extremely different from event those tools made by chimpanzees," Braun wrote in an email to NBC News. Alien / Earth / Science / UFO / Unexplained. In light of the Lomekwi find, Johanson said researchers will probably "refocus their energies on this time period in attempts to locate more instances of such activity." Human evolutionary scholars have long supposed that the earliest stone tools were made by the genus Homo and that this technological development was directly linked to climate change and the spread of savannah grasslands. In: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Stone tools may have been used before our genus came on the scene, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lomekwi&oldid=985040412, Lower Paleolithic Archaeological cultures of Africa, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 23 October 2020, at 16:15. In one instance, Harmand's team was able to match a flake to its core, suggesting a hominin had made and discarded the tool at the site. She said the team came across a set of large stones that were chipped, or knapped, in a pattern that's characteristic of primitive tools. Boyle has won awards for science journalism from numerous organizations, including the National Academies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Association of Science Writers. Given the your own Pins on Pinterest We report the discovery of Lomekwi 3, a 3.3-million-year … [2], Harmand said the Lomekwi 3 artifacts do not fit into the Oldowan tool making tradition and should be considered part of a distinct tradition, which she termed Lomekwian. The Lomekwi 3 knappers, with a developing understanding of stone's fracture properties, combined core reduction with battering activities. The stone tools were discovered in the desert badlands of northwestern Kenya, where the arid, rocky terrain resembles a New Mexican landscape. The largest weighs 15kg, and may have been used as an anvil. Boyle joined NBCNews.com from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where he was the foreign desk editor from 1987 to 1996. Spoiler alert: The stone tools from Lomekwi 3 are an important finding, but not a surprising one. "It's an amazing find, but I think we don't exactly know just yet what it means for hominin behavioral evolution," he said. "3.3-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools From Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya". [2] Harmand presented her findings at the annual meeting of the Paleoanthropology Society on April 14, 2015[1] and published the full announcement and results on the cover of Nature on May 21, 2015.[3]. [1] This is the greatest expression of late Neogene technology in human evolutionary history. Stone tools now 3.3 million years old 2 minute read Sonia Harmand presented a talk at the Paleoanthropology Society meeting this week describing her team’s discovery of stone tools in a 3.3-million-year-old context at Lomekwi, on the west side of Lake Turkana. Being Human 3 - Stone tool use at Lomekwi 3.3 Million years ago In a paper by Harmand et. The project's directors are Lewis and Sonia Harmand, the lead author of the Nature study (and Lewis' wife). ... "The Lomekwi 3 … Before Lomekwi, the oldest known stone tools came from other sites in Ethiopia. [5][6] George Washington University anthropologist Alison Brooks said the tools "could not have been created by natural forces ... the dating evidence is fairly solid. Spoiler alert: The stone tools from Lomekwi 3 are an important finding, but not a surprising one. "There's no doubt it's purposeful" toolmaking, he remarked. Braun also would like to see additional confirmation for the dates assigned to the tools. An additional 130 artifacts were found on the surface. The researchers spotted what Harmand called unmistakable stone tools on the surface of the sandy landscape and immediately launched a small excavation. Lomekwi 3 is the name of an archaeological site in Kenya where ancient stone tools have been discovered dating to 3.3 million years ago, which make them the oldest ever found. [5], Independent researchers who have seen the tools are generally supportive of Harmand's conclusions. Tool unearthed at excavation site. 3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya – Sonia Harmand, Jason E. Lewis, et al., Nature, 2015. New fieldwork in West Turkana, Kenya, has identified evidence of much earlier hominin technological behaviour. The stones showed clear signs of having been deliberately fractured by human ancestors. The tools unearthed at Lomekwi 3 predate the so-called Oldowan tools by about 700,000 years. May 3, 2020 - This Pin was discovered by Daniel Keen. Alan Boyle is the science editor for NBC News Digital. In fact they were found in 2011 and we already started to hear about them several weeks ago, but last week the news was widely spread.… [1][2][3] The finds at Lomekwi therefore represent the oldest stone tools ever discovered, predating the Gona tools by 700,000 years. [1][2] The group made a wrong turn on the way and ended up at a previously unexplored region and decided to do some surveying. They include flakes, cores, hammers and anvils. [1] She ruled out the possibility that the tools were actually natural rock formations, saying "The artifacts were clearly knapped and not the result of accidental fracture of rocks". But if the Lomekwi stone tools could have been made by apes, does their manufacture really signify a cognitive leap for humanity? Subsequent discoveries pushed back thedate forthefirstOldowan stone tools to 2.6 million years ago5,6 (Ma) and the earliest fossils attributable to early Homo to only 2.4–2.3 Ma7,8 , opening up the possibility of tool manufacture by hominins other than Homo9 before 2.6Ma10–12 . “The Lomekwi 3 stone tools join cut-mark evidence from Dikika in pushing the origins of stone cutting tools back to almost 3.5 million years ago. Based on the buried artifacts' stratigraphic position (in undisturbed sediment) relative to two layers of volcanic ash and known magnetic reversals, Harmand and her team dated the tools to 3.3 million years ago. A trove of stone artifacts uncovered in northwestern Kenya suggests human ancestors were crafting tools 3.3 million years ago—about 700,000 years earlier than previously thought. Eventually, more than 100 artifacts and 22 fossil remains were collected from the site, which was designated Lomekwi 3. "It is not yet possible to ascertain what the hominins were doing with these fashioned stones, but if chimps are a guide, perhaps they were using them to open hard-shelled fruits or nuts," said Donald Johanson, who came across Lucy's skeleton in 1974 and now heads the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University. A time-lapse video of the excavation of the 3.3 million year old deposits from which the earliest stone tools were recovered. Human evolutionary scholars have long supposed that the earliest stone tools were made by the genus Homo and that this technological development was directly linked to climate change and the spread of savannah grasslands. Published by Kambiz Kamrani. [5] Paleoanthropologist Zeresenay Alemseged, who was responsible for the earlier research suggesting Australopithecus had made tools, also backed Harmand's conclusions. [2], Kenyan archaeological site dated to 3.3 million years ago, "Archaeologists Take Wrong Turn, Find World's Oldest Stone Tools", "World's oldest stone tools discovered in Kenya", "Oldest stone tools pre-date earliest humans", "New Discovery Of World's Oldest Stone Tools", "World's oldest tools found near Africa's Lake Turkana", Spoor, F; Leakey, L; Leakey, M; (2002) A comparative study of Pliocene hominin fossils from Lomekwi, west of Lake Turkana (Kenya). The date predates the genus Homo by 500,000 years, suggesting this tool making was undertaken by Australopithecus or Kenyanthropus (which was found near Lomekwi 3). [2] However, it is unclear whether the Lomekwian tools are related to those made by Homo species – it is possible the technology was forgotten and later rediscovered. A time-lapse video of the excavation of the 3.3 million year old deposits from which the earliest stone tools were recovered. "It now appears that early humans possessed the seeds of early tool-making that ultimately led to the culture-bound creature we call Homo sapiens," Johanson said. The discovery, detailed in this week's issue of Nature, was made in 2011 during an excavation conducted by the West Turkana Archaeological Project in Kenya. "The enormous sizes of these tools does require pause as to what these tools would have been used for," Braun said. (1) from May 2015 it was announced that stone tools found at west Turkana, Kenya, had been securely dated to 3.3M years old, thus surpassing those from Gona in Ethiopia … Hyping and over-simplification by the popular media of scientific findings are a fact of life, and I understand the need to find an "angle" for a summary story. But scientists had suspected that tool-making went significantly farther back: Five years ago, paleoanthropologists reported finding animal bones in Ethiopia that bore the signs of being cut 3.3 million to 3.4 million years ago. Previously, evidence of stone tool use by Australopithecus has been suggested on the basis of marks on animal bones, but those findings have been hotly debated, with no scientific consensus forming on either side of the debate. A stone tool discovered at the Lomekwi site in Kenya protrudes from the sediment. Most Viewed. Lomekwi-3-Stone-Tool-In-Situ. View all posts by Kambiz Kamrani May 20, 2015 Post navigation. Sealed in situ in these Technology of the Lomekwi 3 stone tools Pliocene sediments (Extended Data Fig. discovery of Lomekwi 3, a 3.3-million-year-old archaeological site where in situ stone artefacts occur in spatio-temporal association with Pliocene hominin fossils in a wooded palaeoenvironment. Before Lomekwi, the oldest known stone tools came from other sites in Ethiopia. We report the discovery of Lomekwi 3, a 3.3-million-year-old archaeological site where in situ stone artefacts occur in spatiotemporal association with Pliocene hominin fossils in a wooded palaeoenvironment. In addition to Harmand and Lewis, the authors of "3.3-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools From Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya" include Craig Feibel, Christopher Lepre, Sandrine Prat, Arnaud Lenoble, Xavier Boes, Rhonda Quinn, Michel Brenet, Adrian Arroyo, Nicholas Taylor, Sophie Clement, Guillaume Daver, Jean-Philip Brugal, Louise Leakey, Richard Mortlock, James Wright, Sammy Lokorodi, Christopher Kirwa, Dennis Kent and Helene Roche. They don't look like much, but scores of crude stone tools discovered in Kenya are special: Scientists say they date back 3.3 million years, which makes them the oldest such artifacts ever found by 700,000 years. Boyle is responsible for coverage of science and space for NBCNews.com. Wait. … 5), the LOM3 archaeological Based on the lithic material recovered in 2011 and 2012, the current material is considered to be in a slightly re-distributed primary total assemblage (n 5 149 surface and in situ artefacts) incorporates 2 1 M AY 2 0 1 5 | VO L 5 2 1 | N AT U R E | 3 1 1 G2015 Macmillan Publishers … "Some may argue that the flakes [of rock] were not necessarily the desired outcome of the activity, but an accidental product of the behavior of using rocks and anvils to open hard-to-get-at food.". In July 2011, a team of archeologists led by Sonia Harmand and Jason Lewis of Stony Brook University, United States, were heading to a site near Kenya's Lake Turkana near where Kenyanthropus platyops fossils had previously been found. David Braun, a paleoanthropologist at George Washington University, said the Lomekwi tools were an enigma. A large stone tool is revealed amid the sediment at the Lomekwi excavation site next to Lake Turkana in Kenya. Among the candidates for the tool-makers are Australopithecus afarensis, another extinct species known as Kenyanthropus platyops, or perhaps some unknown species that could conceivably fit in the genus Homo. Credit: MPK-WTAP. One of the nearly 150 stone tools found at Lomekwi 3, on the western shores of Lake Turkana. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. But that raises deep questions. 3.3 Million Year Old Stone Tools Predate Homo By 500,000 Years. June 14, 2020. Discover (and save!) In an email, Lucy's discoverer told NBC News that the latest find could represent "a major step back in time" for the history of stone tool use among hominins — that is, the prehistoric ancestors of modern humans. Boyle is the author of "The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made a Big Difference." I am amongst the first to accept the probability that Australopithecus was a "tool user." "[2] Rick Potts, head of the Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian Institution, said the tools represented a more primitive style than known human-made tools, but something more sophisticated than what modern chimpanzees do. [2] The purpose of the tools found at Lomekwi 3 is unclear, as animal bones found at the site do not bear any sign of hominin activity. [1] It has been hypothesized that tool making may have aided in the evolution of Homo into a distinct genus. making an argument that these Lomekwi "Finds" are indeed tools. "When we first discovered the tools, we had to start re-examining who the potential makers were, and why they might have started making such tools at this new time," Jason Lewis, a paleoanthropologist at Stony Brook University's Turkana Basin Institute, said in a podcast provided by the journal Nature. They quickly found some stone artifacts on the site, which they named Lomekwi 3. They're thought to have been made 2.6 million years ago, most likely by early members of the genus Homo. The date predates the genus Homo by 500,000 years, suggesting this tool making was undertaken by Australopithecus or Kenyanthropus (which was found near Lomekwi 3). [2] The tools were generally quite large – larger than the oldest known stone tools, recovered in the Gona area of the Afar Region of Ethiopia, in 1992. So we were very excited.". November 9, 2020 November 9, 2020. Lately we have read much about the shocking study of 150 stone tools in Lomekwi, Kenya, close to Lake Turkana, dated to 3.3 mya: the oldest-known tools. Here, examples of hand axes found in Kenya, indicating early humans were using these stone tools … They're thought to have been made 2.6 million years ago, most likely by early members of the genus Homo. [1] A year later they returned to the site for a full excavation. The biggest difference has to do with their size: The average weight is 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds), which is more than 10 times heavier than the stone tools previously regarded as the world's oldest. image caption This stone tool is known as a core - flakes, used for cutting, are sheared away from its edges The first tools from the site, which is called Lomekwi 3, were discovered in 2011. (MPK-WTAP) The Lomekwi 3 excavation site is located on the slope of a … Thomas Wynn, a … The researchers' estimate of the age of the tools — 3.3 million years — is based on an analysis of the sedimentary layer where they were found. [2] Analysis suggested the cores had been rotated as flakes were struck off. Stony Brook University researchers Sonia Harmand and Jason Lewis examine the stone tools found at the Lomekwi 3 excavation site on the western shore of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. Around 20 well preserved artifacts have been dug up at Lomekwi 3 including anvils, cores, and flakes. 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