A recent study by Dr. Patrick Schmidt from the University of Tübingen’s Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology section revealed that early hunter-gatherers in southern Africa were adept at selecting the most suitable material for stone tools and spearheads over 60,000 years ago during the Middle Stone Age.
Stone was the primary material for toolmaking during the longest period of human history. Schmidt explains that stones were skillfully shaped to create tools like knives and scrapers. The Stone Age, which spanned approximately 2.6 million years, only came to an end around 2000 BC, varying by region. The initial step in tool production involved gathering specific stones.
Collaborating with a team from the geosciences and the Competence Center Archaeometry Baden-Wuerttemberg at the University of Tübingen and the University of Aix-Marseille, Schmidt delved into the early humans’ meticulous selection of raw materials.
The research was conducted at the Diepkloof Rock Shelter in South Africa’s Western Cape province, a significant Middle Stone Age site known for its early evidence of human use of symbols, such as 60,000-year-old ostrich egg shells adorned with patterns and repurposed as water containers.
“We examined the rocks used for the tools and spearheads found at the site, including quartzite, silcrete, and hornfels,” Schmidt explains. “We collected samples of the same rock from the surrounding area and analyzed their mechanical properties.”
2024-02-27 10:00:05
Original from phys.org