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Swiss army knife of the archaic human


Eldorado

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Starting about 2.6 million years ago, no archaic human would leave the cave without one. Archaeologists called these flint implements “chopping tools,” even though their actual use remained hotly debated. They weren’t the first stone tools ever used by hominins, but were the earliest known to be produced in a standardized fashion: the outer layer of the rock was left unmolested, and one end was knapped to have a sharp edge.

The hominin would, presumably, grab the non-sharpened end and hit things with the edge.

Chopping tools were the implement that would be longest in use. They went everywhere archaic humans would go, for over 2 million years, throughout the Oldowan and Acheulean cultural complexes. The question is why.

Full article at Haaretz: Link

And at Tel Aviv University: Link

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I think people far underestimate the intelligence of early humans. In fact, they probably weren't even that much less intelligent, they just didn't have the technology or know how, at the time. That's why I know to keep a look out for pieces of stone like flint or shale that seem out of place; they were often used as hand axes and cleaning implements for hundreds of thousands of years. 

For instance, their intuition to eat bone marrow. One of the most nutritionally dense food byproducts out there, very smart of them to take advantage. Early humans also knew to focus on organ meats - liver, heat, kidneys, brain, etc - as these were very dense in vital micronutrients. 

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I never go anywhere without a knife. Some things don't change over time for we cavemen I suppose.

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