Our North African ancestors were making handaxes earlier than previously thought

November 2, 2021 10.41am EDT

More than 1.5 million years ago, a new era dawned for our human ancestors, Homo erectus: the Acheulean culture. This period was marked by the ability to produce large cutting tools, mainly handaxes, manufactured using different kinds of rocks and used for a variety of activities.

These tools were all longer or wider than 10 cm and clearly shaped for different purposes. The previous “culture” – referring here to an archaeological industry – was the Oldowan, which dated from 2.6 million years ago up until at least 1.7 million years ago. Oldowan tools were small and medium-sized flakes, detached from a cobble or a block of raw material.

The Acheulean is considered a turning point in human evolution. That’s because it marked a new level of technological complexity linked to the appearance of Homo erectus, who become able to sculpt a block of stone to shape large objects with one or more standardised characteristics, such as a pointed form. This innovative skill first emerged on the African continent between 1.8 million and 1.6 million years ago, in East Africa. It appears to have reached South Africa somewhere between 1.6 million and 1 million years ago.

Until now, it’s not been clear when the Acheulean appeared in North Africa; estimates have suggested it was around 1 million years ago. Our research, conducted at an archaeological site called Thomas Quarry I in Casablanca, Morocco, changes this. We used the latest technologies in geology and dating methods to establish that the Acheulean likely first appeared in North Africa around 1.3 million years ago.

More:
https://theconversation.com/our-north-african-ancestors-were-making-handaxes-earlier-than-previously-thought-169647