Paleoanthropologists working at the Konso research area in Ethiopia have found a 1.4-million-year-old large bone fragment shaped into handaxe-like form.
The 1.4-million-year-old bone handaxe recovered from the Konso research area in Ethiopia. Image credit: Sano et al, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2006370117.
The newly-discovered handaxe is a bifacially flaked fragment of a hippopotamus femur (thigh bone).
The superbly-preserved tool, which measures 12.8 by 7.5 by 4.6 cm, was found in the Konso Formation in southern Ethiopia.
The ancient artifact was analyzed by University of Tokyo paleoanthropologist Gen Suwa and his colleagues from Japan, Ethiopia and Hong Kong.
The researchers found that the handaxe bears at least 44 secondary flake scars (28 on the cortical face and 16 on the inner face). These range in size from 3 cm to less than 1 cm.
“Both the distribution pattern of flake scars and the high frequency of cone fractures are strong indicators of deliberate flaking,” they said.
“The handaxe is made with substantial sophistication as evidenced by, for example, the large number of small, well-controlled cortical side removals in forming the handaxe-like shape.”
“The finer bifacial flaking made a relatively straight edge in a side view, which enables efficient cutting.”
“Use-wear analysis shows that one of the main edges was probably used in cutting and sawing.”
The Konso handaxe was likely produced and used by Homo erectus, a large-bodied hominin who lived between 1.9 million and 108,000 years ago.
“This bone handaxe shows that at Konso, not only in lithic technology, but also in bone modification, Homo erectus individuals were sufficiently skilled to make and use a durable cutting edge,” the scientists said.
The bone tool is the oldest known extensively flaked example from the Early Pleistocene period.
It is also only the second bone tool recognized as a handaxe from the early Acheulean, a type of stone tool industry characterized by large bifaces.
“The discovery of the finely made Konso bone handaxe from 1.4 million years ago shows that refinement of flaking technology in the early Acheulean involved both stone and bone and provides additional evidence of the technological and behavioral sophistication of African Homo erectus through Acheulean times,” the authors said.
Their paper was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Katsuhiro Sano et al. A 1.4-million-year-old bone handaxe from Konso, Ethiopia, shows advanced tool technology in the early Acheulean. PNAS, published July 13, 2020; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2006370117
Source link: https://www.sci.news/archaeology/konso-handaxe-08636.html
