However, it is unclear whether the Lomekwian tools are related to those made by Homo species – it is possible the technology was forgotten and later rediscovered. It has been hypothesized that tool making may have aided in the evolution of Homo into a distinct genus. Harmand said the Lomekwi 3 artifacts do not fit into the Oldowan tool making tradition and should be considered part of a distinct tradition, which she termed Lomekwian. Previously, evidence of stone tool use by Australopithecus has been suggested on the basis of cut-marks on animal bones, but those findings have been hotly debated, with no scientific consensus forming on either side of the debate. The date predates the genus Homo by 500,000 years, suggesting this tool making was undertaken by Australopithecus or Kenyanthropus (which was found near Lomekwi 3). The finds at Lomekwi therefore represent the oldest stone tools ever discovered, predating the Gona tools, dated to 2.6 mya, by 700,000 years. This is the greatest expression of late Neogene technology in human evolutionary history.īased on the buried artifacts' stratigraphic position (in undisturbed sediment) relative to two layers of volcanic ash and known magnetic reversals, Harmand and her team dated the tools to 3.3 million years ago. The purpose of the tools found at Lomekwi 3 is unclear, as animal bones found at the site do not bear any sign of hominin activity. Analysis suggested the cores had been rotated as flakes were struck off. She ruled out the possibility that the tools were actually natural rock formations, saying "The artifacts were clearly knapped and not the result of accidental fracture of rocks". According to Harmand, it appeared that the tool makers had purposely selected large, heavy blocks of strong stone, ignoring smaller blocks of the same material found in the area. The largest weighs 15kg, and may have been used as an anvil. ![]() The tools were generally quite large – larger than the oldest known stone tools, recovered in the Gona area of the Afar Region of Ethiopia, in 1992. In one instance, Harmand's team was able to match a flake to its core, suggesting a hominin had made and discarded the tool at the site. An additional 130 artifacts were found on the surface. Artifacts Īround 20 well preserved artifacts have been dug up at Lomekwi 3 including anvils, cores, and flakes. Harmand presented her findings at the annual meeting of the Paleoanthropology Society on Ap and published the full announcement and results on the cover of Nature on May 21, 2015. A year later they returned to the site for a full excavation. They quickly found some stone artifacts on the site, which they named Lomekwi 3. The group made a wrong turn on the way and ended up at a previously unexplored region and decided to do some surveying. ![]() In July 2011, a team of archeologists led by Sonia Harmand and Jason Lewis of Stony Brook University, United States, were heading to a site near Kenya's Lake Turkana near where Kenyanthropus platyops fossils had previously been found. Lomekwi 3 is the name of an archaeological site in Kenya where ancient stone tools have been discovered dating to 3.3 million years ago, which make them the oldest ever found. Sonia Harmand, Stony Brook University, US
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