Fossil Evidence for Early Hominid Tool Use

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 265; no. 5178; pp. 1570 - 1573
• Main Author: Susman, Randall L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 09.09.1994; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Anatomy & physiology; Animals; Anthropology; Biomechanical Phenomena; Bones; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Fingers; Flexors; Fossils; Hand - anatomy & histology; Hand - physiology; Hand bones; History of medicine; History, Ancient; Hominidae; Hominidae - anatomy & histology; Humans; Marine and continental quaternary; Metacarpophalangeal joint; Metacarpus - anatomy & histology; Motor Skills; Muscles; Muscles - anatomy & histology; Muscles - physiology; Paleontology; Pan troglodytes - anatomy & histology; Prehistoric peoples; Prehistoric tools; Space life sciences; Stone tools; Surficial geology; Thumb; Tools, Prehistoric; Vertebrate paleontology; Africa; Neogene; osteology; Quaternary; Tertiary; Homo; Pliocene; Vertebrata; Mammalia; bones; Primates; Australopithecus; Hominidae; Pleistocene
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.8079169

Although several Plio-Pleistocene hominids are found in association with stone and bone tools, it has been generally assumed that at any one time the hominid with the largest brain was the toolmaker. Fossils recovered over the last decade suggest that early hominids subsequent to 2.5 million years ago all might have used tools and occupied "cultural" niches. A test for humanlike precision grasping (the enhanced ability to manipulate tools) is proposed and applied to australopithecines and early Homo. The results indicate that tools were likely to have been used by all early hominids at around 2.0 million years ago. The earliest australopithecines, which predate the appearance of stone tools in the archaeological record, do not show signs of advanced precision grasping.