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Use of Tools: "A Sharp Rock", An Pebble Tool, The Most Basic of Human Stone Tools

- The use of tools has been interpreted as a sign of intelligence and may have stimulated aspects of human brain evolution like its expansion over millions of years. - The oldest known stone tools date to around 3.3 million years ago in Kenya, though determining when early humans first started using tools is difficult since more primitive tools like sharp stones can be difficult to distinguish from natural objects. - While many species use tools, the human genus dominates in making and using more complex tools. Debate continues over whether early human species like Homo or Paranthropus were responsible for the oldest known stone tools.

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49 views3 pages

Use of Tools: "A Sharp Rock", An Pebble Tool, The Most Basic of Human Stone Tools

- The use of tools has been interpreted as a sign of intelligence and may have stimulated aspects of human brain evolution like its expansion over millions of years. - The oldest known stone tools date to around 3.3 million years ago in Kenya, though determining when early humans first started using tools is difficult since more primitive tools like sharp stones can be difficult to distinguish from natural objects. - While many species use tools, the human genus dominates in making and using more complex tools. Debate continues over whether early human species like Homo or Paranthropus were responsible for the oldest known stone tools.

Uploaded by

nikita bajpai
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Use of tools[edit]

"A sharp rock", an Oldowan pebble tool, the most basic of human stone tools.

The harnessing of fire was a pivotal milestone in human history.

Acheulean hand-axes from Kent. Homo erectus flint work. The types shown are (clockwise from top)
cordate, ficron and ovate.
Venus of Willendorf, an example of Paleolithic art, dated 24–26,000 years ago.

See also: Hunting hypothesis


The use of tools has been interpreted as a sign of intelligence, and it has been theorized that tool
use may have stimulated certain aspects of human evolution, especially the continued expansion
of the human brain.[217] Paleontology has yet to explain the expansion of this organ over millions
of years despite being extremely demanding in terms of energy consumption. The brain of a
modern human consumes about 13 watts (260 kilocalories per day), a fifth of the body's resting
power consumption.[218] Increased tool use would allow hunting for energy-rich meat products,
and would enable processing more energy-rich plant products. Researchers have suggested that
early hominins were thus under evolutionary pressure to increase their capacity to create and
use tools.[219]
Precisely when early humans started to use tools is difficult to determine, because the more
primitive these tools are (for example, sharp-edged stones) the more difficult it is to decide
whether they are natural objects or human artifacts. [217] There is some evidence that the
australopithecines (4 Ma) may have used broken bones as tools, but this is debated.[220]
Many species make and use tools, but it is the human genus that dominates the areas of making
and using more complex tools. The oldest known tools are flakes from West Turkana, Kenya,
which date to 3.3 million years ago.[221] The next oldest stone tools are from Gona, Ethiopia, and
are considered the beginning of the Oldowan technology. These tools date to about 2.6 million
years ago.[222] A Homo fossil was found near some Oldowan tools, and its age was noted at
2.3 million years old, suggesting that maybe the Homo species did indeed create and use these
tools. It is a possibility but does not yet represent solid evidence. [223] The third metacarpal styloid
process enables the hand bone to lock into the wrist bones, allowing for greater amounts of
pressure to be applied to the wrist and hand from a grasping thumb and fingers. It allows humans
the dexterity and strength to make and use complex tools. This unique anatomical feature
separates humans from apes and other nonhuman primates, and is not seen in human fossils
older than 1.8 million years.[224]
Bernard Wood noted that Paranthropus co-existed with the early Homo species in the area of the
"Oldowan Industrial Complex" over roughly the same span of time. Although there is no direct
evidence which identifies Paranthropus as the tool makers, their anatomy lends to indirect
evidence of their capabilities in this area. Most paleoanthropologists agree that the
early Homo species were indeed responsible for most of the Oldowan tools found. They argue
that when most of the Oldowan tools were found in association with human fossils, Homo was
always present, but Paranthropus was not.[223]
In 1994, Randall Susman used the anatomy of opposable thumbs as the basis for his argument
that both the Homo and Paranthropus species were toolmakers. He compared bones and
muscles of human and chimpanzee thumbs, finding that humans have 3 muscles which are
lacking in chimpanzees. Humans also have thicker metacarpals with broader heads, allowing
more precise grasping than the chimpanzee hand can perform. Susman posited that modern
anatomy of the human opposable thumb is an evolutionary response to the requirements
associated with making and handling tools and that both species were indeed toolmakers. [223]

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