Around 900,000 years ago, stone 2.0 technology was introduced to Spain. Anthropologist Diego Lombao of the University of Santiago de Compostela and his colleagues have discovered the first known European example of advanced stone tool techniques.
Discovered at El Barranc de la Boella in northeastern Spain, the technological leap predates the evolutionary split between modern humans and Neanderthalsso these advances in stone tools were likely created and used by our common ancestors and/or other now extinct human species.
“The technological behavior observed at El Barranc de la Boella demonstrates significant technological advances and anticipatory behavior,” to write Lombao and his team in their journal.
The analysis revealed that the way the tools were cut followed a common sequence, implying that the tool creators used a common pattern to achieve consistent results. These ancient humans also produced larger tools than previously seen and adapted these tools for specific purposes.
Together, these traits indicate “a sophisticated level of foresight and planning.”
The earliest known stone tools, classified as Oldowan or Mode 1, date backward almost 3 million years. Made by ancient hominids across Africa, these early tools were the result of hammering one stone into another. The resulting flakes had sharp edges that could be refined by further strikes.
What Lombao and his colleagues discovered is the first evidence in Europe of the more sophisticated Mode 2 techniques that create Acheulean axes. These build on Mode 1 processes with further refinement using other materials like bone and wood to help perfect the blades. The resulting tools were also more likely to be symmetrical.
The ancient humans who lived in El Barranc de la Boella in the early days Middle Pleistocenecreated a sophisticated process that involved transporting a range of local materials to create their axes and picks at different stages of their production. They chose specific materials for different uses, such as flint (chert) for their small tools and shale for larger instruments.
“Barranc de la Boella is a unique testimony to the technological evolution of hominids in Europe at a time when tools were not only utilitarian, but also involved sophisticated planning and more efficient use of resources,” said Lombao.
But there are indications that this new technology may not have originated at Barranc de la Boella. Some techniques appeared suddenly in the region, suggesting that new techniques emerged with migration rather than local development.
Additionally, these tools have strong similarities with other sites, like Ubeidiya in the Levant.
“We propose that El Barranc de la Boella may represent an early dispersal of Acheuleans from Africa around 1.4 million years ago,” the researchers said. to write.
These tools are considered so important because they provide early evidence of the cognitive ability to use a mental model, involving foresight and planning.
“This site shows us that technological innovation was not linear or a completely sudden jump, but the result of multiple waves of population dispersion and the gradual arrival in Europe of new technological behaviors from Africa” , explain Lombao.
About 300,000 years later, humanity took another technological leap in the use of its tools, paving the way for a cumulative culture which we still add today.
This research was published in the Journal of Paleolithic Archeology.