Collaborative Research: Early Emergence of Tool Use

The goal of this collaborative project is to understand the significance of tool technology in the human lineage. Humans are dependent on technology for their survival. It is not clear when during the evolutionary history of humanity this reliance on technology developed. The emergence of the earliest tool industry appeared nearly three million years ago and marked a significant milestone in human evolution. The ability to make and use stone tools may have represented an adaptive breakthrough, enabling early toolmakers to exploit a wider range of foods resources and expand into diverse environments. However, many aspects surrounding the origin of lithic technology remain unknown, including the taxonomic identity of early toolmakers, what tools were used for, and how far back in time the technology extends. Moreover, the limited number of relevant sites makes it difficult to assess the degree of technological, behavioral and ecological variability in the early archaeological record. Understanding the context, timing, and evolutionary trajectory of early tool use holds global significance. The project contributes to the education and training of graduate and undergraduate students and interns. This project focuses on a site that dates between approximately 3 and 2.6 million years ago. It presents a unique opportunity to investigate the origins of tool technology. The research expands and refines the geological, paleontological, archaeological and hominin records at the site. The research team works to constrain the estimated age, expand the sample of fossils and stone tools, and undertakes additional analyses to shed light on hominin behavior and paleoecology. The project involves excavating additional sites over a broader area, gathering data for paleoecological analysis and paleoenvironmental reconstruction, refining geochronology and stratigraphy and surveying neighboring localities. The findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of early hominin behavior at the dawn of stone tool technology. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.