300,000 Year-old Stone Artefacts Discovered

ASE Senior Archaeologist Letty Ingrey inspects the largest handaxe

Credit: Archaeology South-East/ UCL

Researchers at University College London have discovered some of the largest early prehistoric stone tools in Britain. The discoveries were made at Frindsbury in Kent where artefacts were recovered from deep Ice Age deposits above the Medway Valley. A total of eight hundred stone artefacts believed to be over 300,000 years old were recovered.

The unearthed artefacts included two very large flint knives described as “giant handaxes.” It is thought that this type of tool was usually held in the hand and may have been used for butchering animals and cutting meat.

The largest handaxe measured 29.5cm in length and is currently the third largest known to be found in Britain. ‘Giant handaxes’ like this are usually found in the Thames and Medway regions and date from over 300,000 years ago.

One of the handaxes at the point of discovery on site.
Credit: Archaeology South-East/ UCL

Letty Ingrey, a senior archaeologist from the University College London Institute of Archaeology, explained that they likely date back to an interglacial period approximately 300,000 to 330,000 years ago.

“While right now, we aren’t sure why such large tools were being made, or which species of early human were making them, this site offers a chance to answer these exciting questions.”

stated Ms Ingrey.

The site is thought to date to a period in the early prehistory of Britain when Neanderthal people and their cultures were beginning to emerge and may even have shared the landscape with other early human species. During this period the Medway Valley would have been a wild landscape of wooded hills and river valleys, where red deer, horses, now-extinct straight-tusked elephants, and lions roamed freely.

Excavations revealed artefacts in deep Ice Age sediments preserved on a hillside above the Medway Valley. 

Credit: Archaeology South-East/ UCL

        This exceptionally large axe may have had a specialised function in early human society, or relate to specific human groups, or even human species. Handaxes are stone artefacts that have been chipped, or knapped, on both sides to produce a symmetrical shape with a long cutting edge. 

The largest giant handaxe photographed from four different angles.

Credit: Archaeology South-East/ UCL

Throughout Africa and Europe, handaxes have been discovered at various archaeological sites dating back from 1.7 million to 300,000 years ago. By 200,000 years ago, many innovations had been made in stone tool technology. For example, large handaxes became less common and were replaced with a range of smaller tools in more diverse toolkits. Tools made of flakes were favoured over large cores.

Today, modern humans or Homo sapiens, inhabit the whole earth. Looking back over the last half a million years, the picture was much more diverse, with three distinct lineages appearing: Homo erectus in Asia; and Homo heidelbergensis giving rise to Homo neanderthalensis in Europe and Homo sapiens in Africa.

The Neanderthals thrived in Europe for around 300,000 years before modern humans arrived. Neanderthals occupied Europe for at least 100,000 years during a period when glacial cycles dominated the climate. Excavations in Ibex, Vanguard, and Gorham’s Caves in Gibraltar have revealed evidence of Neanderthal occupation dating to possibly as late as 28,000 years ago.

The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals and another extinct line of humans known as the Denisovans. Modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans shared a common ancestor who lived roughly 600,000 years ago.

For further information see:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2023/jul/giant-stone-artefacts-found-rare-ice-age-site-kent

https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue61/6/full-text.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-66112136

In Search of our Ancient Ancestors – New Evidence

View from Jebel Irhoud
Photo: Flickr

A re-evaluation of early human remains and artefacts from Morocco has pushed back the advent of Homo sapiens by 100,000 years. Archaeologists and palaeontologists believe that the oldest of the fossils comes from 300,000 to 350,000 years ago. Skulls, teeth, and long bones of at least five Homo sapiens, along with stone tools and animal bones, have been found at Jebel Irhoud, Morocco since 2004. Prior to this discovery, the oldest accepted dating for Homo sapiens remains were said to be from the site of Omo Kibish in Ethiopia, dated to 195,000 years ago and Herto, also in Ethiopia, from 160,000 years ago .

Although stone tools were found all over Africa by 300,000 years ago, human fossils were thought to be no older than 195,000 years old. One possibility was that the stone tools had been made by some hominid (any member of the group consisting of all modern and extinct humans and great apes - including gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans - and all their immediate ancestors) other than Homo sapiens. Jebel Irhoud is considered to be the oldest and richest African Middle Stone Age hominin site that documents early stages of the Homo sapiens.

Composite Reconstruction of Skull from
        Jebel Irhound - Photograph: Flickr

Today, modern humans or Homo sapiens, inhabit the whole earth. Looking back over the last half a million years, the picture was much more diverse, with three distinct lineages appearing: Homo erectus in Asia; and Homo heidelbergensis giving rise to Homo neanderthals in Europe and Homo sapiens in Africa. Excavations in Ibex, Vanguard, and Gorham’s Caves in Gibraltar have revealed evidence of Neanderthal occupation dating to possibly as late as 28,000 years ago.

This dispersal out of Africa is believed to have started from Northeast Africa. Modern humans later spread worldwide, replacing earlier ancestors either through competition or interbreeding. The first fossil evidence for any modern humans outside Africa comes from the Middle East, from the archaeological sites of Skhul and Qafzeh in Israel, dating to around 120,000 years ago.

The skeleton of an adolescent early Homo sapiens was found at the Qafzeh Cave site near Nazareth, buried in a pit dug into bedrock. The skeleton was lying on its back with both arms flexed upwards and a set of deer antlers laid across the chest. The burial dates to around 100,000-80,000 years ago and may represent a form of ritual possibly indicating a belief in an afterlife. However, this early expansion of modern humans was not maintained.

The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals and another extinct line of humans known as the Denisovans. Modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans shared a common ancestor who lived roughly 600,000 years ago. The interbreeding may have given modern humans genes that bolstered immunity to pathogens. The first clues to ancient interbreeding surfaced in 2010, when scientists discovered that some modern humans — mostly Europeans — carried DNA that matched material recovered from Neanderthal fossils.

There are, however, conflicting models of human expansion. The so called Regional Continuity theory suggests that Homo sapiens arose from earlier, archaic populations in many places throughout the Old World. Over time, archaic populations in Africa, Europe, and Asia developed into Homo sapiens. In this view, the lineages represented by Homo ergaster in Africa, Home erectus in Asia, and Homo neanderthals in Europe have all survived, and modern humans are their descendants.

The recent African Origin model proposes a more localised point of origin for our species. The earliest Homo sapiens fossils are found in Africa, and genetic research on living humans points to the recent evolution of our species in Africa. Genetic evidence also supports a model of expansion, with our species emerging out of Africa and largely replacing earlier, archaic populations.

Sometime after 80,000 years ago, a population expansion and migration began, which would lay the foundations of modern humans colonising the globe. Although the archaeological evidence is not conclusive, the genetic trail leads out of Africa, through the Middle East, into southern and South Asia, and all the way to Australia.

The presence of early Homo Sapiens in north Africa complicates our understanding of humanity arising in the east of the continent. Researchers used to think that there was a cradle of humankind in East Africa about 200,000 years ago, and all modern humans descend from that population. The new finds indicate that Homo sapiens is much older and had already spread across all of Africa by 300,000 years ago.

It’s possible that in the Middle Stone Age early humans spread all over Africa, aided by their new stone technology of smaller, lighter tools such as spear tips rather than larger stone hand axes. At the time, the Sahara was a lush, green savannah and not the impassable desert of today. Alternatively, humans may have already spread throughout the continent and developed Middle Stone Age tools independently.
For further information see:
http://letterfromballinloughane.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/migration-is-not-something-new.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sYj4yyxCgs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3RHG_FCsgQ

Migration is not Something New

Early Skulls

Until recently, the earliest evidence archaeologists had for human occupation in Ireland was dated to around 8000 BC. However, scientists have recently dated a fragment of butchered bear bone from a cave in County Clare to 10,500 BC, thereby, pushing back the date for human settlement in Ireland by 2,500 years. At a time of mass migration in the world it is, perhaps, timely to consider our origin as a species and how humans went on to inhabit the globe.

Humans and chimpanzees are very closely related and separated about 7.4 million years ago.  There is only a 1% difference between the chimpanzee genome and our own suggesting that we have a common ancestor.

Today, modern humans or Homo sapiens, inhabit the whole earth. Looking back over the last half a million years, the picture was much more diverse, with three distinct lineages appearing: Homo erectus in Asia; and Homo heidelbergensis giving rise to Homo neanderthalensis in Europe and Homo sapiens in Africa.

Image of Neanderthal Man

The Neanderthals thrived in Europe for around 300,000 years before modern humans arrived. The reason for the demise of this successful species remains a mystery. Neanderthals occupied Europe for at least 100,000 years during a period when glacial cycles dominated the climate. Excavations in Ibex, Vanguard, and Gorham’s Caves in Gibraltar have revealed evidence of Neanderthal occupation dating to possibly as late as 28,000 years ago. This makes Gibraltar the most recent Neanderthal occupation site yet discovered.

By 200,000 years ago, many innovations had been made in stone tool technology. For example, large handaxes became less common and were replaced with a range of smaller tools in more diverse toolkits. Tools made of flakes were favoured over large cores. Humans use tools to a much higher degree than any other animal and are the only existing species known to build fires, cook their food, wear clothes, and create art.

The first fossil evidence for any modern humans outside Africa comes from the Middle East, from  the archaeological sites of Skhul and Qafzeh in Israel, dating to around 120,000 years ago. However, this early expansion of modern humans was not maintained. A change to a colder climate may have driven those pioneers back into Africa. The expansion of our own species out of Africa that eventually led to the colonisation of the globe would start later – after 100,000 years ago.

Map showing the spread of humans

This dispersal out of Africa is believed to have started from Northeast Africa. Modern humans later spread worldwide, replacing earlier ancestors either through competition or interbreeding. They inhabited Eurasia (Europe and Asia) and Oceania (a region centred on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean) 40,000 years ago, and the Americas at least 14,500 years ago.)

Around 50,000 years ago, an improvement in the global climate, leading to the appearance of habitable lands where once there was desert, may have provided the opportunity for modern humans to spread into Europe.  Evidence from early modern human sites in Europe suggest that these early people moved into the continent along coasts and rivers, as they had done elsewhere.

Until about 10,000 years ago, humans lived as hunter-gatherers living in small nomadic groups, often in caves. Agriculture began independently in many parts of the world with different domesticated species. Hunter-gatherers already knew a great deal about plants and animals and often manipulated them or the environment to increase productivity. Farming entered Europe around 7000 BCE and was the main way of life across Europe by 4000 BCE.

Farming communities spreading into Central Europe around 5600 BCE had to adapt to bitter winters, heavy rainfall, and dense forests. They kept mainly cattle and farmed open river terraces. Farming spread through Western Europe and into other parts of Central, Northern, and Eastern Europe by 4000 BC.  Animals were initially kept for meat, hides, bones, and manure. Feeding animals on crop surpluses made them a food reserve, and large herds signified wealth and prestige. Domestic animals became far more important when people began using them also in other ways: for milk, wool, eggs, traction, and transport.

Examples of early metal working

The social importance of metals for making prestige objects with which people could show their status, led to the early development of metallurgy. Only later, with the development of alloys, did metal also become significant as a material for tools and weapons. Smelting copper and lead ores began in West Asia after 7000 BC, and by the sixth millennium BC casting was possible. By 2500 BC, metallurgy had spread through Europe. Bronze-working became widespread after 1800 BC with trade routes linking much of the continent circulating metals, particularly tin.

Prehistoric religion reflected people’s need to understand the world and explain disasters. Through rituals and offerings ancient societies sought to bribe or appease the divine forces controlling the world or its individual components. Since Neanderthal times, people have practised rites that showed concern for their dead, perhaps linked to a belief in an afterlife.

Newgrange Stone Age Passage Tomb

Burial in graves or tombs or under house floors, was common. Many societies practised other rites, including cremation, exposure, or disposal in watery places. Some thought it important to preserve the body and undertook mummification (for example, in Egypt and South America). Monumental tombs, such as tumuli, pyramids, and megaliths, could link the living and the dead to ancestral lands or sacred places.  

Humans and chimpanzees are very closely related and separated as recently as about 7.4 million years ago. Our ancient cousins, the Neanderthals thrived in Europe for around 300,000 years before modern humans arrived and may have survived until around 28,000 years ago. Innovation in stone tool technology aided the development and eventual spread of modern humans throughout the globe. Later developments in metal working and agriculture assisted this dispersal. Since Neanderthal times, people have practised rites that showed concern for their dead, perhaps linked to a belief in an afterlife.

Migration is not something new and, in a sense, we are all migrants whose ancestors were black and lived in Africa a long long time ago.

Further reading: Evolution - The Human Story (2011) by Dr.Alice Roberts

See also BBC DVD The Incredible Human Journey