The human Stone Age was , undeniably , the first step on a journey towards the species total technological dominance – but it didn’thaveto be . After all , pluck a rock that ’s too soft , or too skew-whiff , and our ascendent may never have made it retiring “ ape with aspirations ” . So how did they carry off to get it so veracious ?
A new study has the response – or , at least , the initial stages of one . By directly experimenting on various raw materials from percussive creature from Melka Wakena , a 1.6 - to-0.7 - million - year - old archeological site in the Ethiopian Highlands , researchers were able to infer what made a textile useful to our ancient root – and when certain advantages preponderate others in their calculations .
“ Our enquiry shows that the material properties of the stones – such as suitability , quality , and durability – were likely all important factors in the excerption process by early hominins , ” explained Dr Eduardo Paixão , a researcher at the University of Algarve , Portugal , and study track , in a translatedstatement .
“ This intimate that they had a deep sympathy of their environment , ” Paixão said , “ and made deliberate choices . ”
It was n’t always as straightforward as you might think , either . For as primitive as we like to think of ourStone Age ancestorsbeing , they realize the nuances of sway way better than we do ( salve for the odd geologist out there ): “ Our experimental results show that , while two type of rock ( ignimbrite and glassy ignimbrite ) appear similar to the raw middle , they acquit substantially otherwise , ” explains the newspaper .
Glassy ignimbrite do from further away , and was less commodious to practice – but it was also “ importantly harder , ” the paper points out , and “ also the most homogenous raw textile [ … ] and the most immune . ” The solvent ? The easy , albeit more widely usable , figure of the rock-and-roll was disregard , while “ glassy ignimbrite , make for from a longer distance in the form of large flake blank shell , was intentionally selected for the manufacture of [ gravid cut tools ] ” .
It ’s not just the results that are important here . As the paper bring in open , a lot of what we ’ve traditionally understood about Stone Agetechnologyhas been based on … well , vibraharp , more or less : “ in many cases , [ … ] inferences about [ artefacts ’ ] specific function are based on preconceived assumptions about their size and sound structure , ” the paper explain .
Even those thathavebeen systematically analyzed are still kind of fuzzy , it adds , since “ Differences in the physical properties of rock are often described and organise by researchers in distinct family of ‘ raw material quality ’ .
“ However , delimit and quantifying this ‘ calibre ’ is not straightforward , ” it explicate .
In that respect , the new theme – and the projection it mark a starting time to – is undoubtedly remarkable . It ’s perhaps the first study to examine these ancient stonetoolson their own term : not only performing a post - hoc analysis of the artifact , but replicate their original function . And it ’s paid off : already , the research worker have noticed that some properties , previously assumed to be one of these mysterious “ qualities ” of the rock itself , are in reality the outcome of the tool ’s use over sentence .
“ The measured choice of cloth influenced the surface changes of the tools , ” explicate co - source Dr João Marreiros . “ This demonstrates that departure in archeologic uncovering are not random . ”
“ These findings unfold Modern perspectives on understand technological innovations in early human chronicle , ” added Paixão . “ We project further research to better comprehend the complex decisions made by these early toolmaker . ”
The study is published in the journalPLOS ONE .
