3 Million Years of Instruments Proves The Ancestors of Modern People Know to Strategic Think
A new discovery in Kenya changes our understanding of when our distant ancestors began to think ahead, and it was found that stone tools dating back to 3 million years ago were made from rocks carried from a decade. This means that planning and resource calculations began much earlier than expected.
In a new study published in Science Advances, scientists analyzed 401 instruments from the Nyayanga archaeological site in Kenya. These primitive knives and diggers belong to the “Oldowan” group, the oldest known stonework culture. But what was unusual was not only the structure, but also the origin of the material.
The analysis showed that many stones used in instrument making were brought from 10 to 13 kilometers away, and for our ancestors who lived 2.6-3 million years ago, this is a very big distance. They not only took the first stone that came across, but they searched for the best, hard and sharp stone that could be used for longer at home.
Antique planning
Until now, it was believed that such a “strategic thought” appeared in representatives of the Homo genus about 2 million years ago. However, the find in Kenya is at least 600,000 years older.
Moreover, archaeologists found the bones of Paranthropus, a genre of extinct hominin, who lived before Homo’s appearance, along with the tools. This means that the ability to plan a course and draw mentally may have emerged directly from our ancestors before.
Comparison with modern primates
In contrast, chimpanzees carry a few kilometers to crack nuts, and then gradually carry stones. The distant relatives of modern people have managed to overcome this distance several times, which means they have a more advanced memory and spatial thinking.
And what does that mean for people?
The oldest means indicate that the connection between man and technology did not emerge yesterday or two million years ago. Millions of years ago, our ancestors understood that the world around us could be subject to our needs, whether it was to process food or build shelters.
Source: 3 Million Years of Instruments Proves The Ancestors of Modern People Know to Strategic Think