Scientists have unearthed stone tools dating back 3.3 million years from the shores of Lake Turkana in northwestern Kenya. They are 700,000 years older than any tools found before, even pre-dating the earliest humans in the Homo genus. They are now the oldest stone tools yet discovered. Their makers may or may not have been some sort of human ancestor. They may challenge the notion that our own most direct ancestors were the first to bang two rocks together to create a new technology.
Either ancient human ancestors like the ape-like creature "Lucy" -- which lived around the same time as the artifacts -- made the tools, meaning humans are not the only ones able to craft sophisticated tools, or humans appeared earlier than currently thought, and their fossils are still waiting to be found.
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Kenya travel guide
Coverage includes: Planning chapters, Nairobi, Southern Rift Valley, Masai Mara, Western Kenya, Central Highlands, Laikipia, Southeastern Kenya, Mombasa, the South Coast, the North Coast, Lamu, Northern Kenya, Understand and Survival guide chapters.
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Either ancient human ancestors like the ape-like creature "Lucy" -- which lived around the same time as the artifacts -- made the tools, meaning humans are not the only ones able to craft sophisticated tools, or humans appeared earlier than currently thought, and their fossils are still waiting to be found.
Visiting Kenya?
Kenya travel guide
Coverage includes: Planning chapters, Nairobi, Southern Rift Valley, Masai Mara, Western Kenya, Central Highlands, Laikipia, Southeastern Kenya, Mombasa, the South Coast, the North Coast, Lamu, Northern Kenya, Understand and Survival guide chapters.
Check out more Lonely Planet guidebooks in Africa
Click here to visit the Lonely Planet shop for more ebooks and print versions.