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So it seems that stone tools were more widely made than by merely the ancestors of homo sapiens.

[bbc.com]

#ancestors
Petter 9 Feb 10
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1

Level 8

Exactly! Ever watched a raven use tools? They do! How about parrots? YUP! But...back to the primates...I've said this before but will say it again....we never give early people enough credit! Think about the cave petroglyphs.

Although many animals use naturally occuring objects as temporary tools. Only Primates, not necessarily homo, have deliberately smashed and chipped away at stones, etc, in order to CREATE tools

@Petter I've seen birds modify sticks to open insect nests. I know what you're saying, of course. Primates have hands to manipulate/shape objects. But...other animals can do as much as they can with what they have.

@pamagain Cockatoos are briliant at it. It certainly belies the phrase "bird brained".

@Petter AND...nobody ever teaches them how to do these things (build nests, raise young, etc.) They're born knowing how to to do it. Ever seen the nests of Weaver birds? They can tie KNOTS!

@pamagain I grew up surrounded by them.

1

Level 8

Excellent.

Although other current primates use tools so the discovery should be corroborative and unsurprising.

About the pizza oven, it's well known that a Mesopotamian woman invented scissors one morning to cut the flat bread pizzas but by early afternoon had invented the first wheel for the pizzas and it just rolled on from there.

2

Level 8

The Greeks thought all the flint knives and random stone tools were gifts from the gods just in case you needed a flint knife.
Sort of a divine UBI.
We have modern monkeys that use stone hammers to bust open nuts.

1

Level 9

always a good idea. like a sharp stick. fire. and of course the pizza oven.

2

Level 8

Interesting article and difficult to imagine what it was like around 2.9 million years ago.

And difficult to imagine surviving in that time!
2

Level 9

Way cool!

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