World's oldest stone tools predating modern humans discovered

Scientists have discovered the world's oldest stone tools, which date back 3.3 million years, on the shores of a Kenyan lake.

Hammers, anvils and cutting implements are among the haul of more than 149 tools which were discovered over a period of three years near Lake Turkana in northern Kenya.

The find pre-dates the earliest members of the homo genus to which modern humans belong, suggesting that pre-homo species were capable of making and using tools.

They are 700,000 years older than the Oldowan tools discovered at Olduvia Gorge in Tanzania in the 1930s, which at 2.6 million years old were previously believed to be the earliest examples of human tools.

The authors of the report, which was published in the journal Nature, say the discovery "marks a new beginning to the known archaeological record".

Researchers discovered the first batch of tools in 2011 at the site, named Lomekwi 3, after taking a wrong turn in the arid Kenyan environment. Further discoveries were made in field trips in 2012 and 2014.

Dr Nick Taylor, from the National Centre of Scientific Research in France and the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, told the BBC that the find was "monumental".

Until the discovery, the earliest tool-using species of human was believed to be homo habilis, or "handy man", which was believed to have inhabited parts of sub-Saharan Africa up to two million years ago.

The discovery suggests that earlier hominid species which predate the homo genus may have been more intelligent than previously believed. These include Australopithecus afarensis, one of the earliest hominid species to walk upright and the species to which a skeleton found in Ethiopia in 2010 nicknamed Lucy belonged.

Dr Taylor, who was one of the researchers on the project, also suggested that a hominin called Kenyanthropus platyops, which dates back to 3.5 million years ago and a fossil of which was also discovered in the Turkana region in 1999, could have fashioned the ancient implements.

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Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.

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