About 900,000 years ago, Stone Tech 2.0 arrived in Spain. University of Santiago de Compostela anthropologist Diego Lombao and colleagues have discovered the earliest known examples of advanced stone tool technology in Europe.
The technological leap discovered at El Barranc de la Boella in northeastern Spain predates the evolutionary split between modern humans and Neanderthals. It is therefore likely that these developments in stone tools were made and used by our common ancestors and/or by other now extinct human species.
“The technological behavior observed at El Barranc de la Boella demonstrates significant technological advancement and expected behavior.” write Paper by Lombao and team.
Analysis showed that the way the tools were cut followed a shared sequence, suggesting that the toolmakers were using a common template to achieve consistent results. These ancient humans also produced larger tools than had ever been seen before and adapted these tools for specific purposes.
Together, these characteristics represent a “sophisticated level of forecasting and planning.”
The earliest known stone tools are classified as follows: Oldowan Alternatively, Mode 1 dates back almost 3 million years. Crafted by ancient hominins across Africa, these early tools were the result of hammering one stone into another. The resulting fragments had sharp edges that could be trimmed with additional attacks.
What Lombao and colleagues discovered is the first evidence of more sophisticated Mode 2 technology in Europe. Acheulean Hatchet. It builds on the Mode 1 process with further refinements using other materials such as bone and wood to perfect the blade. The resulting instruments were also more likely to be symmetric.
Ancient humans who initially lived in El Barranc de la Boella middle pleistoceneWe created an elaborate process to transport a variety of local materials to make axles and picks at various stages of production. They selected specific materials for different purposes, such as flint (chert) for small tools and schist for larger tools.
“Barranc de la Boella is unique evidence of the technological transformation of European hominins at a time when tools were not only practical but also required sophisticated planning and more efficient use of resources.” Lombao says.
However, there are clues that this new technology may not have originated in El Barranc de la Boella. Some technologies emerged suddenly locally, suggesting that new technologies emerged with migration rather than local development.
Moreover, these tools are very similar to other sites such as: Ubeidiya In the Levant.
“We propose that El Barranc de la Boella may represent the early dispersal of the Acheulean from Africa about 1.4 million years ago.” write.
These tools are considered very important because they are early evidence of the cognitive ability to use mental models involved in prediction and planning.
“This site shows that technological innovation is not a linear or completely sudden leap, but is the result of multiple waves of population dispersal and the gradual arrival of new technological behaviors from Africa to Europe.” explain Lombao.
About 300,000 years later, humans made another technological leap in tool use, resulting in a cumulative culture that we are still adding to today.
This study Journal of Paleolithic Archeology.
