3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya, predate Oldowan

3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya

The abstract gets a little techno-jargony but it is saying that this is the earliest evidence of knapping. The researchers propose the name "Lomekwian" for the 'Pliocene hominin's' who utilized these tools, and note that it "predates the Oldowan by 700,000 years and marks a new beginning to the known archaeological record."

Added:
3.3-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools Unearthed in Kenya

A team of scientists led by Dr Sonia Harmand of Stony Brook University has unearthed the earliest tools ever found – dated at 3.3 million years old.

(I thought this article was breaking science-related news but it's been out there for a month. Sorry, my news feed is worthless these days.)

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

Linking-in the recent thread's on very similar OPs would earn a flag from me...so far just a star.

Wow pretty amazing.
I've googled it to read a bit more about it, looks like some paleoanthropologists had already found stone marks in bones from around that same time.
These findings will definitely bring a lot of debate to the field. Don't expect it to be accepted right away by the entire community.
It will have a deep impact on anthropology and many other fields too, since the ability to create culture is what defines and differences the genus homo from other hominins. If they accept as a fact that homininins which predate humans were already making tools, then that definition becomes obsolete. Pretty shocking finding indeed.
Thanks for sharing!
S&F

They are Guessing these are Hominin tools.

That long ago, that could have just as easily have been intelligent Gorilla or Chimpanzee primitive (in time not necessarily in intelligence) ape creatures.

They always guess it has to be a Human relative....Why?

Every old skull they find....always had to be some ancient human....Why?

How come, they never find an ancient Chimp skull or Gorilla skull.

Sure their "Evolution" is just as diverse as Homos? With just as many relatives and branches?

I am getting a little annoyed with these "Experts" tunnel vision on...Everything must be a Homo relative...
No, everything must not be.

We assume "Evolution" if it exists at all, is suppose to improve species, but that is not always true.

Many creatures on Earth have'nt changed for millions of years.

Change of environment, means adapting to that new environment, not bringing out a new model that is "New and Improved"

Another example of scientists justifying their existence, for more grants and research money.

originally posted by: gort51
They are Guessing these are Hominin tools.

That long ago, that could have just as easily have been intelligent Gorilla or Chimpanzee primitive (in time not necessarily in intelligence) ape creatures.

They always guess it has to be a Human relative....Why?

Well because, we are the only known species to produce tools, that's why they are thinking it should be one of our ancestors. Still... What's groundbreaking is that they are know talking about hominins, not humans, making tools. Pretty amazing discovery if you ask me.
Thing is as they have no evidence of any other species making tools, they have to relate it to one of our ancestors, they have to go further back in time. It's not like they jump to that conclusion out of the blue.

And they do find "ancient chimp skulls", take the austrolopithecus afarensis for example, they are a common ancestor of humans and chimps.
All of this is pretty well documented, the homo genus evolution I mean, and I'm pretty annoyed with the scientific community too, but in this particular matter I see nothing wrong.

Good if true, let 'em push that back 700,000 years and maybe they can fit some more missing pieces in from prehistory.

If only they could see as far ahead as they can see behind! But unfortunately, the future gives them no artifacts to dig up for study.

a reply to: payta

Well because, we are the only known species to produce tools

www.mnn.com...

This depends on how you define produce i guess .

Crows and ravens
Aside from primates, crows and ravens show the most ingenuity in the animal kingdom. Their many clever tricks include manipulating sticks and twigs to extract insects from logs, dropping walnuts in front of moving cars to crack them, and even using scrap paper as a rake or sponge.

Did the crows make the cars or shape the stick . No . But if i was a caveman and cracked a mammoth over the head with a large branch would that be considered a tool . If one crow tore a piece of paper in half would that be a tool then .

Primates
There are endless instances of tool use among primates. To name just a few examples: chimpanzees fashion twigs for termite fishing, use stone and wooden tools to crack open nuts, and sharpen spears out of sticks to hunt; gorillas use walking poles to measure water depth; orangutans can pick a lock with a paperclip; and capuchins make stone knives by banging flint against the floor until the pieces are sharp.

Oh wait , sharpen .

Interesting link , well worth a read . Lots of clever little buggers .

a reply to: gort51

Evolution is not "suppose to improve" anything. Evolution is all about the very common sense notion of genetic drift, which is evidenced in our most basic animal husbandry processes. You don't let a gimp bull breed unless you want more gimp bulls.

humans are not the only tool makers. Neandertal, Heidelbergensis, Denisoven, Erectus....

There isn't much in your post that is properly conceived. It all starts with understanding that 3.3mil year old knapping evidence is an actual discovery worthy of discussion and likely to cause some updates to the textbooks.

originally posted by: gort51
They are Guessing these are Hominin tools.

Based on all available evidence, what would be your differing conclusion?

That long ago, that could have just as easily have been intelligent Gorilla or Chimpanzee primitive (in time not necessarily in intelligence) ape creatures.

They always guess it has to be a Human relative....Why?

There isn't evidence of any other members of Hominidae making tools by knapping at all in the fossil record. If that information came to light as a result of the research then whoever found the site and published the data would have their career made with such a find. There is no reason to bury or overlook that type of data.

Every old skull they find....always had to be some ancient human....Why?

It doesn't though. There are plenty if finds that are not hominids. They just aren't as newsworthy unless you follow paleontology.

How come, they never find an ancient Chimp skull or Gorilla skull.

They find them all the time.

Sure their "Evolution" is just as diverse as Homos? With just as many relatives and branches?

Yes. It's quite diverse. There are apes and gorillas found all over the globe in prehistory.

I am getting a little annoyed with these "Experts" tunnel vision on...Everything must be a Homo relative...
No, everything must not be.

Don't be annoyed with the "experts". Be annoyed with yourself for not following the activities of paleontologists who study other branches of Hominidae

We assume "Evolution" if it exists at all, is suppose to improve species, but that is not always true.

Nobody assumes that except people who don't understand how eviction works

Many creatures on Earth have'nt changed for millions of years.

No, there aren't. And please don't use the ceolocanth as an example because I can shred that in about 3 seconds.

Change of environment, means adapting to that new environment, not bringing out a new model that is "New and Improved"

Change in environment will lead to adaptations. In many instances those adaptations lead to speciation. The Chinoanzee and Bonobo are a good example if this having only been seperated by the Congo River for approx. 1.5 MA

Another example of scientists justifying their existence, for more grants and research money.

If by justifying you mean properly researching and documenting a paradigm altering find then yes, they are clearly justified in further funding. Why attack the process and not the data? Can you find fault in the actual paper?

a reply to: Blackmarketeer
This was already discussed
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Whoa... Nelly... that's OLD... so old that our family tree just got shaken a bit... a few hundred thousand years older than the oldest tools yet found!

likely tools left by an anachronistic ape-man, who went back to nature and was keeping the stone knapping art alive...

while fellow ape-men wore designer suits, hunted-gathered online and worked in bamboo cubicles... wait 'till they dig a little and find the cubicle, stone-age porn and fiber optic lines!

Time to redo the timelines-lineage.. .yay... science!