Ancient Humans Made Tools From Animal Bones 1.5 Million Years Ago

Ancient Humans Made Tools From Animal Bones 1.5 Million Years Ago
Researcher Ignacio de la Torre holds a bone tool found in Tanzania's Olduvai Gorge, at the CSIC-Pleistocene Archaeology Lab in Madrid in 2023. Angeliki Theodoropoulou/CSIC via AP
The Associated Press
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WASHINGTON—Early humans were regularly using animal bones to make cutting tools 1.5 million years ago.

A newly discovered cache of 27 carved and sharpened bones from elephants and hippos found in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge site pushes back the date for ancient bone tool use by around 1 million years. Researchers know that early people made simple tools from stones as early as 3.3 million years ago.