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Older Than the Oldowan? Rethinking the Emergence of Hominin Tool Use

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Older Than the Oldowan? Rethinking the Emergence of Hominin Tool Use Evolutionary Anthropology 235 ARTICLES Older Than the Oldowan? Rethinking the Emergence of Hominin Tool Use MELISSA A. PANGER, ALISON S. BROOKS, BRIAN G. RICHMOND, AND BERNARD WOOD Intentionally modified stone tools first appear in the hominin archeological record ized occurrences often containing about 2.5 mya. Their appearance has been variously interpreted as marking the onset hundreds or even thousands of stone of tool use by hominins or, less restrictively, the origin of hominin lithic technology.1,2 artifacts and associated fossil speci- Although the 2.5 mya date has persisted for two decades, several related but distinct mens.5 Low-density sites with fewer questions about the origin and evolution of hominin tool use remain to be answered: than 100 stone artifacts, referred to as Did hominins use tools before 2.5 mya? Did hominins use unmodified stones as tools scatters, have also been described.6 before 2.5 mya? Does the earliest appearance of stone tools in the archeological The artifacts range from well-made record represent the earliest use of intentionally modified stones as tools? flakes with clear striking platforms, bulbs of percussion, and dorsal scars indicative of multiple prior flake re- Using information from primatol- stone tools (Fig. 1). We consider sev- movals from the core7 to amorphous ogy, functional morphology, phylog- eral scenarios to explain why stone lumps and shattered fragments of ex- eny, archeology, and paleoanthropol- tool manufacture and use might not otic raw materials.8 ogy, we argue that before 2.5 mya have left archeological traces prior to Hard-hammer percussion, the most hominins may have used tools, includ- 2.5 mya and conclude by suggesting frequent technique used to manufac- ing unmodified and possibly modified means to test our hypotheses. ture Oldowan-type tools, apparently involved striking a hand-held hammer THE EARLIEST KNOWN DIRECT stone against a hand-held core.9 How- ever, it is likely that some Oldowan EVIDENCE OF HOMININ Melissa Panger is a Postdoctoral Research tools were made by placing a core Fellow in the Department of Anthropology TOOL USE and the Center for the Advanced Study of against a substrate and then striking it Human Paleobiology at The George Wash- Research on the evolution of tool- with another stone or by striking or ington University. E-mail: [email protected] throwing a stone against a hard sur- Alison Brooks is Professor and Chair of based behavior in hominins focuses 9 the Department of Anthropology at The on modified stone tools and fossilized face. Microwear analyses suggest George Washington University and Pro- faunal remains showing wear consis- that some Oldowan tools were used to fessor, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology. Research Associ- tent with tool use. Here, tool use is process large vertebrates by cutting ate in Anthropology, National Museum of defined according to Beck3: “The ex- meat from bone or, using percussion Natural History, the Smithsonian Institu- ternal employment of an unattached techniques, to gain access to bone tion. E-mail: [email protected] 10,11 Brian Richmond is an Assistant Professor environmental object to alter...an- marrow. Other tools may have in the Department of Anthropology and the other object...when the user holds been used for digging9 or for cutting Center for the Advanced Study of Human wood and siliceous plant tissues.11,12 Paleobiology at The George Washington or carries the tool during or just prior University and Research Associate of the touse...”(p. 10). “Modified” stone Oldowan tools have been described in Human Origins Program at the National tools are those that have been inten- detail elsewhere.13,14 Museum of Natural History, the Smithso- nian Institution. E-mail: [email protected] tionally modified. “Hominin” refers to When stone tools are used to pro- Bernard Wood is the Henry R. Luce Pro- members of the human clade or, in cess large vertebrates, they often leave fessor of Human Origins in the Depart- other words, components of the lin- distinctive patterns of damage on the ment of Anthropology at The George 15,16 Washington University and Adjunct Se- eage that separated from the last com- fossilized remains. Therefore, fau- nior Scientist at the National Museum of mon ancestor of Homo and Pan spp. 8 nal remains showing modifications Natural History, the Smithsonian Institu- tion. E-mail: [email protected] to 5 mya, and that persist as Homo inconsistent with natural breakage sapiens.4 but consistent with stone tool use pro- The earliest known tools are modi- vide indirect evidence of stone tool Key words: stone tools, primate tool use, homi- fied stone tools belonging to the Old- use.17 Currently, the earliest such evi- nid evolution owan Industry and dating to about 2.5 dence also dates to about 2.5 mya.17 to 2.0 mya (Table 1). Most Oldowan Bone tools dating to 2 to 1.5 mya Evolutionary Anthropology 11:235–245 (2002) tools, however, have been recovered have also been found in both East and DOI 10.1002/evan.10094 14,18 Published online in Wiley InterScience from sites dating from 2 to 1.5 mya, Southern Africa. Although the (www.interscience.wiley.com). and are known primarily from local- bones are not extensively modified, 236 Evolutionary Anthropology ARTICLES idence. Potentially important indirect evidence comes from primatology, functional anatomy, and molecular phylogenetics. DID HOMININS USE TOOLS BEFORE 2.5 MYA? There is now compelling evidence that the hominins and Pan are sister clades24,25 (but see Satla, Klein, and Takahata,26 for a more cautious but still supportive interpretation of the data). Because the great apes (espe- cially chimpanzees) and humans use tools, parsimony suggests that the last common ancestor of Pan and Homo (8 to 5 mya) used tools27–30 (see Box 1 and Fig. 2). Because most early hominins are associated with nonarid environ- ments such as riparian forests, densely wooded habitats, and mosaic habitats with some grasslands,31,32 we Figure 1. Estimations of the earliest hominin tool use using various lines of evidence. This assume that such high-energy, diffi- figure represents the estimated time of the earliest hominin tool use using three different sources of evidence. The Direct Evidence of tool use is represented by accumulated cult-to-access foods such as nuts, so- modified stone tools, bone tools, and percussion or cut marks on bones that survive to the cial insects, and honey were available. present in the fossil or archeological record, the earliest known dating to about 2.5 mya We further assume that raw materials (arrow A). Arrow B represents anatomical traits (such as a relatively large brain and for making tools, among them sticks, manipulative hands) from the hominin fossil record that are consistent with, correlated with, grasses, leaves, and appropriate stones, or necessary for primate tool use, including stone-tool use (modified and unmodified). The were also available to all early homi- earliest known hominins (about 3.2 mya) for which we have appropriate anatomical data nins. There is little doubt that homi- have an anatomy consistent with tool use, possibly including modified stone-tool use. Because anatomical evidence necessary for determining relative brain size and hand nins, given a body mass comparable morphology are currently not available for earlier hominins, this date may change as more to or greater than that of chimpan- information becomes available. Arrow C represents the estimated time of the earliest zees, had the strength to perform a hominin tool use (comparable to that observed among great apes, including unmodified variety of tool-using activities, includ- stone-tool use) derived using phylogenetic inference (see Fig. 2). The related event is the ing the manufacture and use of stone split between the panins and hominins; that is, the origin of the hominin clade at about 8 to tools. (Capuchins, which, at 2 to 3 kg, 5 mya. Thus, 5 mya is a conservative estimate. are about the size of a house cat, are macroscopic use-wear patterns and ies,22 and archeological and ethno- able to make stone tools). Thus, we microscopic analyses suggest that the graphic studies of symbolic behav- assume that the ecological impetus, bones were most likely used for dig- ior.23 We suggest that, in much the raw materials, and necessary strength for tool use were available to early ging, cutting, or termite fishing.18,19 same way, researchers interested in Additionally, some early modified the evolution of tool use benefitby hominins from the time of the split looking beyond traditional lines of ev- stone tools exhibit wear patterns typ- between hominins and panins. ical of woodworking, suggesting that TABLE 1. Early Oldowan Tool Sites (Older Than 2 My) wooden tools may also have been part of the early hominin toolkit.12 Site or Locality Name Region, Country Age References Although it is practical to use early Gona Hadar, Ethiopia 2.6–2.5 My 50 Oldowan tools and fossilized faunal Bouria Middle Awash, Ethiopia c. 2.5 My 17 remains having wear consistent with Shungura Formation Omo River Valley, 2.4–2.34 8 tool use as the earliest indication of (Members E and F) Ethiopia My Lokalalei West Lake Turkana, 2.34 My 7 hominin tool use we might be better Kenya served by turning to more indirect Senga 5Ab Semliki Valley, c. 2.3 My 105 methods. Alternative sources of evi- Democratic Republic dence about the origin of language of Congo are routinely explored, for example Kada Hadar Member Hadar, Ethiopia c. 2.33 My 36 through information regarding vocal KS-1 and KS-2 Kanjera South, Kenya c. 2.2 My 32 and neural anatomy that is consistent a Faunal remains with cut marks, but no stone tools, were recovered from this site.
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