A team of archaeologists from University College London and the Natural History Museum, London, have just described the discovery of an extraordinary prehistoric tool made from elephant bone.
The ancient artefact was found at an archaeological site in Boxgrove, near Chichester in West Sussex, in the 1990s, but it wasn’t until recently that it was identified as more than just a fragment of bone.
The hammer is the oldest tool made from elephant bone ever found in Europe and its discovery provides a rare glimpse into the minds of those who made it. At 500,000 years old, it’s roughly 200,000 years older than the origin of Homo sapiens, which indicates it was made by an earlier species of human.
The researchers involved with this latest study, published today in Science Advances, believe it may have been crafted by either neanderthals or a contemporaneous species known as Homo heidelbergensis. The hammer’s sophisticated construction suggests these early humans were skilled craftspersons who were remarkably in tune with the diverse environment they lived in.
“This remarkable discovery showcases the ingenuity and resourcefulness of our ancient ancestors. They possessed, not only a deep knowledge of the local materials around them, but also a sophisticated understanding of how to craft highly refined stone tools. Elephant bone would have been a rare but highly useful resource, and it’s likely this was a tool of considerable value,” said lead author Simon Parfitt.
At 11cm long, 6cm wide, and 3cm thick, the hammer is roughly the same size as a bar of soap, and it bears many marks that suggest it was both intentionally shaped and intensively used.
Using 3D scanning methods and electron microscopes to look more closely at these marks, the researchers found they were embedded with tiny fragments of flint, suggesting it was used as a soft hammer to strike, shape, and sharpen stone tools.
As a material, bone is a lot softer than stone, making it better for precise tasks such as ‘knapping’. This is a process where stones, bones, or even antlers are struck against the edges of dulled stones to detach flakes and restore their sharpness. Being thicker than other animal bones, elephant bones would have made more resilient hammers and would have therefore been highly valued by early humans.
While the bone the hammer is made from is thick and dense enough to indicate that it came from an elephant or mammoth, it’s too incomplete to determine the exact species, or even which part of the animal’s skeleton it is.
500,000 years ago, elephants and mammoths roamed much of Europe, but they were uncommon in southern England. The discovery of a prehistoric hammer made from elephant bone suggests its makers were able to recognise how rare they were and that they were worth seeking out. It also suggests they were capable of producing tools that were more refined and complex than some other contemporary prehistoric humans.
“Our ancient ancestors were sophisticated in their use of tools. Collecting and shaping an elephant bone fragment and then using it on multiple occasions to shape and sharpen stone tools shows an advanced level of complex thinking and abstract thought. They were resourceful gatherers of available materials, and savvy about how best to use them,” added co-author Silvia Bello.
Other tools made from elephant bones have previously been found in Europe, but they’re all less than 450,000-years-old and most were found much further south in warmer climates. The oldest elephant bone tools so far discovered were found in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and date as far back as 1.5 million years ago.
Top image: the Boxgrove archaeological site. Credit: Boxgrove Project, UCL
More amazing stories from around the world
- Ice Age wolf pulled from Siberian permafrost. Scientists are amazed at what they found in its stomach
- “A remarkable find": student unearths prehistoric animal on Jurassic Coast
- Why 7 mummified cheetahs found in a Saudi Arabian cave have got scientists so excited
- Child finds mammoth tooth in playground on Vancouver Island – and it has got scientists very excited
- Why ancient 'goblin' bones found in Utah are a truly monstrous discovery
