If you’re wondering where they come up with these dates, well then, you’re not the only one wondering about that.
Study Finds:
Archaeologists consider Oldowan and Acheulean stone tools to be the oldest existing examples of ancient technology. Now, a new study finds these prehistoric tools are likely older than anyone thinks. Researchers the University of Kent’s School of Anthropology and Conservation say the stone relics may be tens of thousands of years older than the original estimates.
Study authors say these new findings change a whole lot for archeologists. They may provide a new “chronological foundation” by which to understand how early humans began creating and producing stone tools. This new timeline also raises questions about the evolution of humanity’s technological capabilities. Rewriting the evolutionary timeline may also change the technological connection to dietary and behavioral changes that occurred simultaneously.
Pictured: Acheulean “hand axes.”
Researchers used newly devised statistical modeling methods to reach these new conclusions. It’s a notable leap forward, considering scientists have only recently introduced these techniques to the archeological world.
According to the new models, Oldowan stone tools originated between 2.617 and 2.644 million years ago. That’s anywhere from 36,000 to 63,000 years earlier than the currently accepted evidence indicates. Meanwhile, study authors estimate Acheulean tools appeared between 1.815 and 1.823 million years ago (at least 55,000 years earlier than believed).
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“Our research provides the best possible estimates for understanding when hominins first produced these stone tool types. This is important for multiple reasons, but for me at least, it is most exciting because it highlights that there are likely to be substantial portions of the artifact record waiting to be discovered,” says lead study author Dr. Alastair Key, a Paleolithic Archaeologist, in a university release.
They just put this sort of thing out there, and just expect people to accept it.
“Oh, these tools are 36,000 years old – oh no, actually, they’re 3 million years old, maybe!”
But whichever thing they are saying you’re supposed to accept at the time that they say it and simply say “oh that’s fascinating.”
No mask, one mask, two mask, three mask – just follow the science!
The actual reality is that science does not “say” anything. Science is a method of inquiry.
We were all supposed to learn this in I think third grade.
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