Authors
Shannon P McPherron, Zeresenay Alemseged, Curtis W Marean, Jonathan G Wynn, Denné Reed, Denis Geraads, René Bobe, Hamdallah A Béarat
Publication date
2010/8/12
Journal
Nature
Volume
466
Issue
7308
Pages
857-860
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group UK
Description
The oldest direct evidence of stone tool manufacture comes from Gona (Ethiopia) and dates to between 2.6 and 2.5 million years (Myr) ago. At the nearby Bouri site several cut-marked bones also show stone tool use approximately 2.5 Myr ago. Here we report stone-tool-inflicted marks on bones found during recent survey work in Dikika, Ethiopia, a research area close to Gona and Bouri. On the basis of low-power microscopic and environmental scanning electron microscope observations, these bones show unambiguous stone-tool cut marks for flesh removal and percussion marks for marrow access. The bones derive from the Sidi Hakoma Member of the Hadar Formation. Established 40Ar–39Ar dates on the tuffs that bracket this member constrain the finds to between 3.42 and 3.24 Myr ago, and stratigraphic scaling between these units and other geological evidence indicate that they are older than 3.39 Myr …
Total citations
20102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202464160626756648375737150646523