Early humans made tools from bones 1 million years sooner than scientists thought : Short Wave

Bone tool shaped on a 1.5-million-year-old elephant humerus.

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CSIC

Bone tool shaped on a 1.5-million-year-old elephant humerus.

CSIC

Archeologists know early humans used stone to make tools long before the time of Homo sapiens.

But a new discovery out this week in Nature suggests early humans in eastern Africa were also using animal bones – one million years earlier than researchers previously thought.

The finding suggests that these early humans were intentionally shaping animal materials – like elephant and hippopotamus bones – to make tools and that it could indicate advancements in early human cognition.

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Today’s episode was produced by Rebecca Ramirez, who edited it alongside Christopher Intagliata. Tyler Jones checked the facts. Patrick Murray and Jimmy Keeley were the audio engineers.