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OLDEST FOSSIL TOOLBy Sean Henahan, Access Excellence
Caption: Some believe that Australopithecus afarensis was the common ancestor of both the Homo line and the rest of the Australopithecus line. "There have been older stone tools found, some dating as far back as perhaps 2.5 million years, but these are the oldest tools found in association with an ancient fossil hominid. The fossil, an ancestor to humans, may have made these tools," said team member Carl Vondra, chair of Iowa State's geological and atmospheric sciences department. The fossil and stone tools were discovered on the surface of a barren hill near a dry stream bed at the Hadar site, in northern Ethiopia's Afar badlands. This is the same area where Lucy, the most complete example of a small-brained, big- jawed, upright-walking Australopithecus afarensis, was found. The age of the Hadar jaw and tools is 2.33 million years with an accuracy of plus or minus 70,000 years. Before this find, the oldest association between a hominid fossil and stone tools was roughly 1.85 million years old. Researchers are excited about these discoveries since they provide information on a period of time in human evolution for which little information is available. The discovery of the Hadar fossil helps fill a gap in the evidence for the early evolution of Homo sapiens and could help find links back in time to Australopithecus afarensis. Vondra and Yemane's work established the geological setting during the fossil's lifetime. Through their study of the rocks and sediments in the areas around where the discoveries are made, the paleoanthropologists can get a better idea of where to focus their search and to understand the environment of pre-human ancestors. The research appears in the December issue of Journal of Human Evolution.
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