Thursday, May 6, 1999 Published at 03:58 GMT 04:58 UK    Sci/Tech
Ancient 'tool factory' uncovered

The stones throw light on life two million years ago A 2.34-million-year-old
'tool factory' has been unearthed in Kenya, the science journal Nature
reports. The team behind the find say it shows that our pre-human ancestors
had more sophisticated technical skills than was previously thought. Science
Correspondent Christine McGourty: "Tool-making is considered a landmark in
intelligence" The researchers say the tools are from a time when man's
ancestors were not thought to have had the mental or physical ability to
fashion them. The Nature report says the tools were found with bones of fish
and mammals and had probably been used to cut up meat. Egg shells were also
found at the site, indicating that the inhabitants of the region had a varied
diet. The 'tool factory' could date back to small ape-like pre-humans from
before the development of the Homo evolutionary group. Helene Roche, an
archaeologist at the University of Paris, said: "They were more elaborate and
sophisticated than what we had seen previously or thought possible for stone
tools of this age." Piecing together the past The tools, found in northern
Kenya's Rift Valley, were sharp flakes methodically chipped from a single
rock.
Archaeologists pieced together more than 2,000 flakes found at the site to
produce about 60 reconstructions of the original stones. In reporting their
finding, the team said two things demonstrate the skill of the early
toolmakers: New rocks would be tested to see if they produced the required
sharp-edge flakes and would be discarded if they did not. The tool-makers
knew how to chip off each flake so that it left a surface suitable for
producing another flake.Craig Feibel, a geologist on the team, said: "It's
not like they were just randomly whacking away and knocking off whatever
happens to come off."
Homo habilis, a species of pre-humans that lived about two million years ago
may have been the tool makers, it is thought. Australopithecine, another
early hominid, is also a candidate. Thursday, May 6, 1999 Published at 03:58
GMT 04:58 UK