Archaeologists from the University of Central London and the city’s Natural History Museum studying a nearly 500,000-year-old elephant bone hammer have determined the ancient tool was made by Neanderthals or another early human ancestor, Homo heidelbergensis, millennia before the first modern humans (Homo sapiens) walked the Earth.
The research team behind the new analysis said that the unexpectedly sophisticated craftsmanship of the elephant bone hammer, the oldest such prehistoric tool ever found in Europe, offers an “extraordinary glimpse” into humanity’s earliest ancestors.
Elephant Bone Hammer Hundreds of Thousands of Years Older Than Previous Finds
According to a statement detailing the new analysis, the tool was originally discovered in the early 1990s at an archaeological site in Boxgrove, near Chichester in West Sussex, England. Numerous ancient tools made from flint, none and antlers have been found at the site, but the hammer is the only tool made from elephant bone.
Elephant bone tools have been discovered in Tanzania, dating back 1.5 million years. The oldest elephant bone tools found in Europe are tens of thousands of years younger, and those were discovered in southern Europe.
To date, very few elephant bone tools older than 43,000 years have been previously identified. As a result, researchers didn’t immediately identify the Boxgrove artefact as a tool until it was studied in detail.
3D Microscopic Analysis Reveals Ancient Tool’s Manufacture and Use
In the team’s published study, the elephant bone hammer is described as triangular, measuring 11 centimeters long, 6 meters wide, and 3 centimeters thick. The researchers said the tool also bears marks that suggest it was “intentionally shaped” for specific utility.
It is mostly composed of cortical bone, which is the dense outer layer of bone tissue. The tool’s density suggests it may have been made from a mammoth, but the fragment is too incomplete to identify the exact species or body part the bone comes from.
The team also said there is insufficient evidence to determine whether the animal was hunted or the bone was merely scavenged from a dead animal. However, they did note that some of the tool’s deformation indicates it was shaped and used when the bone was still “relatively” fresh.
After scanning the elephant bone tool with 3D electron microscopes, the team found notches and impact marks suggesting the implement was used as a hammer. The microscopic analysis also identified minute fragments of flint within the notches, indicating the hammer was likely used “over and over” to shape other stone tools.
Because the hammer was made of bone, which is much softer than stone, the team believes it was used for more precise tasks such as sharpening stone handaxes and animal butchering tools. Labeled by the researchers as a “retoucher,” they suggest it was used to sharpen the edges of “dulled” stone tools, a process archaeologists call “knapping.”
The study’s lead author, Simon Parfitt from the UCL Institute of Archaeology and Scientific Associate at the Natural History Museum, said this nearly 500,000-year-old elephant bone tool is a prime example of 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,” the researcher said. “Elephant bone would have been a rare but highly useful resource, and it’s likely this was a tool of considerable value.”
A Relatively Advanced Level of Technological Development
When discussing the implications of an elephant bone tool made hundreds of thousands of years before modern humans existed, the researchers highlighted the rarity of elephants and mammoths in the local landscape, suggesting that these early humans recognized their rarity and unique physical characteristics compared to stones and other animal bones.
They also note the complexity of the tool’s design and applications reveals the “resourcefulness and cognitive capabilities” of the area’s early prehistoric human ancestors. The discovery also suggests these ancient toolmakers possessed a “relatively advanced level of technological development” since a retouching tool would enable the production of other, more specialized tools that were “more refined and complex” than tools made by other ancient human populations living during this time.
“Our ancient ancestors were sophisticated in their use of tools,” explained the study co-author. Dr Silvia Bello, Merit Researcher at the Natural History Museum. “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,” Dr Bello added.
The study “The earliest elephant-bone tool from Europe: An unexpected raw material for precision knapping of Acheulean handaxes” was published in Science Advances.
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.