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Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Shannon P. McPherron

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, DeutscherPlatz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany)

  • Zeresenay Alemseged

    (California Academy of Sciences, 55 Concourse Drive, San Francisco, California 94118, USA)

  • Curtis W. Marean

    (Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, PO Box 872402, Arizona State University)

  • Jonathan G. Wynn

    (University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave, SCA 528, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA)

  • Denné Reed

    (University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C3200, Austin, Texas 78712, USA)

  • Denis Geraads

    (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UPR 2147, 44 Rue de l'Amiral Mouchez, Paris 75014, France)

  • René Bobe

    (University of Georgia)

  • Hamdallah A. Béarat

    (School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University)

Abstract

First evidence of tool use Until now, the earliest evidence for tool use by our ancestors or their relatives was from two sites in Ethiopia's Awash Valley. Stone tools manufactured about 2.5 million years ago were found at Gona, and cut-marked bones of about the same age were found in the Middle Awash. The suspicion that hominins used tools even earlier has now been borne out by the discovery at nearby Dikika of two bones, one from a large ungulate, with cut and percussion marks consistent with the use of stone tools to remove flesh and extract bone marrow. The marked bones are about 3.4 million years old and are probably the work of Australopithecus afarensis, the only hominin known to have been in the Awash Valley at this time, and famously the species to which the iconic Lucy (from Hadar, Ethiopia) and the juvenile Selam (or DIK-1-1, from Dikika) belong.

Suggested Citation

  • Shannon P. McPherron & Zeresenay Alemseged & Curtis W. Marean & Jonathan G. Wynn & Denné Reed & Denis Geraads & René Bobe & Hamdallah A. Béarat, 2010. "Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia," Nature, Nature, vol. 466(7308), pages 857-860, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:466:y:2010:i:7308:d:10.1038_nature09248
    DOI: 10.1038/nature09248
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    Cited by:

    1. Abebe Ejigu Alemu & Hossein Azadi, 2018. "Fish Value Chain and Its Impact on Rural Households’ Income: Lessons Learned from Northern Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-16, October.
    2. Elisa Bandini & Rachel A. Harrison & Alba Motes-Rodrigo, 2022. "Examining the suitability of extant primates as models of hominin stone tool culture," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Claes Andersson & Claudio Tennie, 2023. "Zooming out the microscope on cumulative cultural evolution: ‘Trajectory B’ from animal to human culture," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-20, December.

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