Tools australopithecines

To determine the age of the butchered bones, project geologist Dr. Jonathan Wynn relied on a very well documented and dated set of volcanic deposits in the Dikika area. These same deposits were previously used to determine Selam's age, and they are well known from nearby Hadar, where Lucy was found. The cut-marked bones at Dikika were sandwiched between volcanic deposits that have been securely dated to 3.

Both of the cut-marked bones discovered at Dikika came from mammals -- one is a rib fragment from a cow-sized mammal, and the other is a femur shaft fragment from a goat-sized mammal. Both bones are marred by cut, scrape, and percussion marks. Microscope and elemental analysis using secondary electron imaging and energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry demonstrated that these marks were created before the bones fossilized, meaning that recent damage can be eliminated as the cause of the marks.

Additionally, the marks were consistent with the morphology of stone-inflicted cuts rather than tooth-inflicted marks. Hamdallah Bearat from the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University determined that one cut-mark even contained a tiny, embedded piece of rock that was likely left behind during the butchering process.

While it is clear that the Australopithecines at Dikika were using sharp-edged stones to carve meat from bones, it is impossible to tell from the marks alone whether they were making their tools or simply finding and using naturally sharp rocks. So far, the research team has not found any flaked stone tools at Dikika from this early time period. This could indicate that the Dikika residents were simply opportunistic about finding and using sharp-edged stones.

However, the sedimentary environment at the site suggests another potential explanation. One of our goals is to go back and see if we can find these locations, and look for evidence that at this early date they were actually making, not just using, stone tools. Regardless of whether or not Selam and her relatives were making their own tools, the fact that they were using them to access nutritious meat and marrow from large mammals would have had wide-ranging implications for A.

While many questions remain about the history of tool use, tool making, and related dietary changes among human ancestors, this discovery adds a rich new chapter to the story -- a story that is deeply relevant to what makes us unique as a species. Financial support for the field and laboratory work was provided by the California Academy of Sciences. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website.

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The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Two ancient animal bones from Ethiopia show signs of butchering by human ancestors, moving back the earliest evidence for the use of stone tools by about , years, researchers say. The bones appear to have been cut and smashed some 3. The study authors said the bones indicate the human ancestor used sharp stones to carve meat from the carcasses of large animals and other stones to smash bones to get at the marrow.

One bone is a rib from a creature the size of a cow, and the other a leg bone from something the size of a goat. No stone tools were found at the site. The researchers also called the finding the earliest evidence for meat-eating among hominins, an evolutionary group that includes people and their ancestors. The study authors attributed the tool use to afarensis because no other hominin is known from that time in the area where the bones were found.

The skeleton of a young afarensis female, dubbed "Selam," had previously been found about yards away from the bone site. The Lucy fossil, which dates to 3. Alemseged said afarensis probably scavenged carcasses rather than hunting live animals, and ate the meat raw.

The researchers said it's not clear whether the stone tools were made or were simply stones that were used as tools. But they plan to look for evidence of tool-making.