“Becoming Human” is a series of posts that periodically examines the evolution of the major traits and behaviors that define humans, such as big brains, language, technology and art. For decades, ...

A new site in one of the most important basins for humanity’s evolution has provided evidence of occupation over an unprecedented period. Across 300,000 years, the toolmakers maintained a similar ...

Learn how early hominins crafted the same sharp-edged Oldowan tools through 300,000 years of climate change, revealing one of the longest-lasting technologies in human history. In a world of shifting ...

Early humans who made some of the oldest known stone tools might have traveled miles to secure the best materials for their construction, new research suggests. Archaeologists traced the origins of ...

A set of stone tools found in Kenya is the oldest of its kind, and one of the oldest known to have been made by ancient hominins. The find adds to the evidence for widespread tool use relatively early ...

Oldowan tools are some of the oldest known in the archaeological record; made of conveniently shaped rocks or crafted from knapped stones, these tools made it possible for hominin species to survive ...

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Russell has a PhD in the history of medicine, violence, and colonialism. His research has explored topics including ethics, science governance, and medical involvement in violent contexts. Russell has ...

Our prehistoric human ancestors relied on deliberately modified and sharpened stone tools as early as 3.3 million years ago. The selection of rock type depended on how easily the material could be ...

Hominin reliance on Oldowan stone tools—which appear from 2.5 mya and are believed to have been socially transmitted—has been hypothesized to have led to the evolution of teaching and language. Here ...

Oldowan stone tools made from a variety of raw materials sourced more than 6 miles away from where they were found in southwestern Kenya. The development of the Oldowan toolkit made it possible for ...

Stephen has degrees in science (Physics major) and arts (English Literature and the History and Philosophy of Science), as well as a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication. Stephen has degrees in ...