Around 900,000 years ago stone tech 2.0 was released into Spain. University of Santiago de Compostela anthropologist Diego Lombao and colleagues found the earliest known European example of advanced stone tool techniques.
Discovered at El Barranc de la Boella in northeastern Spain, the technological leap predates the evolutionary split between modern humans and Neanderthals, so these advances in stone tools were likely created and used by our shared ancestors and/or other now extinct human species.
“The technological behavior observed at El Barranc de la Boella demonstrates significant technological advancements and anticipatory behavior,” write Lombao and team in their paper.
Analysis revealed that the way the tools were knapped followed a shared sequence, implying the tool crafters were using a common template to achieve consistent results. These ancient humans were also producing larger tools than those seen previously, and tailoring these tools for specific purposes.
Together these traits indicate “a sophisticated level of foresight and planning.”
The earliest known stone tools, classified as Oldowan or Mode 1, date back almost 3 million years. Produced by ancient hominins across Africa, these initial tools were the result of one stone being hammered into another. The resulting shards had sharp edges that could be refined by further strikes.
What Lombao and colleagues have discovered is the earliest evidence in Europe of the more sophisticated Mode 2 techniques that create Acheulean handaxes. These built on Mode 1 processes through further refinement by using other materials like bone and wood to help perfect the blades. The resulting tools were also more likely to be symmetrical.
The ancient humans that lived at El Barranc de la Boella during the early Middle Pleistocene, created a sophisticated process that involved transporting a range of local materials to create their axes and picks at different stages of their production. They chose specific materials for different purposes, such as flint (chert) for their smaller tools and schist for the larger instruments.
“Barranc de la Boella is a unique testimony to the technological change of hominins in Europe at a time when tools were not only utilitarian, but also involved sophisticated planning and a more efficient use of resources,” says Lombao.
But there are clues that this new technology may not have originated at El Barranc de la Boella. Some of the techniques appeared in the region suddenly, suggesting new techniques appeared with migration rather than local development.
What’s more, these tools have strong similarities to other sites, such as Ubeidiya in the Levant.
“We propose that El Barranc de la Boella may represent an early dispersal of the Acheulean from Africa around 1.4 million years ago,” the researchers write.
These tools are viewed as so significant because they are early evidence of the cognitive ability to use a mental model, involving foresight and planning.
“This site shows us that technological innovation was not linear or a completely abrupt leap, but the result of multiple waves of population dispersion and the gradual arrival in Europe of new technological behaviours from Africa,” explains Lombao.
About 300,000 years later humanity took another technological leap in their tool use, ushering in a cumulative culture that we’re still adding to today.
This research was published in the Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology.
