Archaeologists say a group of unknown ancient people who lived about 400,000 years ago unexpectedly created an “impressive tool” from elephant bones.
The elephant bone collection is now located near Castell de Guido in Italy, between 1979 and 1991, and was later revised by a team from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Some of these remains are 400,000 years old and have been turned into continuous bone tools by the unknown community of ancient people who lived in the area.
Many of the tools were made using advanced methods that were not commonly used for the next 100,000 years, including cleansers used to treat skin that were not widely used until about 300,000 years ago, the authors said.
“We were looking at other bone tool websites,” says lead author Paola Villa, “but no clear shape differences were found in this collection.
Archaeologists say a group of unknown ancient people who lived about 400,000 years ago unexpectedly created an “impressive tool” from elephant bones.
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Elephant skeletons were unearthed in Italy between 1979 and 1991 at Castell de Guido, near present-day Rome. reanalyzed
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4.5 m with increased extension. Tall
The long-extinct straight tusk elephant reached an incredible 13 feet tall.
Paleoloxodon Antigus colonized Europe and Western Asia between 780,000 and 30,000 years ago in the middle of the Pleistocene.
They are believed to have lived in small herds and reached their peak during the interclassical period.
They reached this peak as far as Great Britain.
Such skeletons are rare, but isolated tusks and bones have been found, and tools have been excavated from their bones at an archaeological site near Rome.
They are believed to have become extinct due to human hunting – they were used as tools and food for bones.
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The site of Castell de Guido on the outskirts of present-day Rome was home to valleys and rivers 400,000 years ago. And sometimes seals. Dead.
Stone Age people made tools from their remains using a systematic and standard approach, much like one person on an assembly line.
“Humans broke elephant’s long bones and created permanent cavities to make bone tools,” Villa said.
This discovery surprised the UC Boulder team because this type of tool skill did not spread until later in human history.
The exploitation of intelligence came at a critical time for hominids, which coincided with the emergence of Neanderthals in Europe.
Although it is not clear what kind of person made the bone tool, Villa suspects that the inhabitants of Castell de Guido were Neanderthals.
“The practice of using fire started about 400,000 years ago, the beginning of the Neanderthal lineage,” the researchers explain.
Among the bones re-analyzed by Villa and friends were 98 community-made tools living in the settlement at the time.
It is a “scale bone tool” invented by modern humans, offering a wide variety of useful materials that researchers have discovered to date.
The site of Castel de Guido on the outskirts of present-day Rome was home to valleys and rivers 400,000 years ago, and 4.5-meter-tall elephants were used to quench thirst and spend time with live tusks. And sometimes seal the dead.
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Some of these remains are 400,000 years old, and the incredible Neanderthal community that lived in the area turned them into various bone tools.
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Some tools were demonstrated and could theoretically be used to cut meat, while others were wedges for splitting heavy and long elephant bones.
“First, you make a groove that fits this heavy piece with the cutting edge,” says Villa. ‘Then you hit him, and sometimes he breaks a bone.’
But one tool stood out from the rest: the team found an artifact carved from a wild bowbone that was long and soft at one end.
It is similar to what archaeologists call a “lysoir” or glitter, a type of instrument used to treat hominid skin, and it attracted their interest because it was only introduced to the hominid community about 300,000 years ago.
However, elephant deaths are common in many areas. During the Stone Age, elephants with straight tusks (reconstruction shown) slowly disappeared from Europe.
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Some tools have been demonstrated and can theoretically be used to cut meat, while others are wedges used to separate long and heavy elephant bones.
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“In other places, 400,000 years ago, people used only the bone fragments that were available,” Villa said.
There seems to be something special going on at the Italian place.
Villa didn’t believe that Castile de Guido’s hominids were smarter than their European counterparts, but used what they had.
He explained that not many large stones naturally formed in this part of Italy, so ancient people could not make many large stone tools.
However, elephant deaths are common in many areas. During the Stone Age, elephants with straight tusks slowly disappeared from Europe.
Villa did not believe that Castile de Guido’s hominids were smarter than their European counterparts, but used what they had.
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Among the bones re-analyzed by Villa and friends were 98 community-made tools living in the settlement at the time.
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During the bone-forming Castell de Guido era, these animals may have entered the site’s water holes and sometimes died of natural causes. Then the men found the remains and cut them for their long bones.
“Castell de Guido has cognitive intelligence, which has allowed him to develop complex bone technology,” says Villa.
“In other encounters, there was enough bone to make some cuts, but not enough to start a standardized and systematic production of bone tools.”
Instead of people becoming more advanced, the condition and abundance of long bones in this one area led to the early introduction of new technologies.
The results are published in the journal Add one.
