List of earliest tools

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The following table attempts to list the oldest-known Paleolithic and Paleo-Indian sites where hominin tools have been found. It includes sites where compelling evidence of hominin tool use has been found, even if no actual tools have been found.

Stone tools preserve more readily than tools of many other materials.[1][2] So the oldest tools that we can find in many areas are going to be stone tools. It could be that these tools were once accompanied by, or even preceded by, non-stone tools that we cannot find because they did not preserve.

Similarly, hard materials like bone or shell are more likely than softer materials to leave discernible cut marks on bone. Bamboo has been shown to leave cut marks on bone that are harder to see than cut marks by stone.[3] So the earliest evidence of tool use that we are likely to find are often cut marks made on bone by stone or shell tools. Therefore, it should not be assumed that the items on this list represent the earliest uses of tools in each area, but rather the earliest uses of tools that have been found.

Because it focuses on only the earliest evidence of tools, and since the earliest evidence is biased towards stone by stone's increased likelihood of preservation, this page necessarily omits mention of many significant ancient tools of non-stone materials simply because those cases are not among the earliest found within their geographic area. See Timeline of historic inventions for other noteworthy tools and other inventions.

With its focus on tools, this list also omits some sites with the earliest evidence for the existence of hominins, but without evidence for tools. Many such sites have hominin bones, teeth, or footprints, but unless they also include evidence for tools or tool use, they are omitted here.

This list excludes tools and tool use attributed to non-hominin species. See Tool use by non-humans. Since there are far too many hominin tool sites to list on a single page, this page attempts to list the 6 or fewer top candidates for oldest tool site within each significant geographic area.

Geographic areas covered

For much of the 20th century, a "Clovis first" idea dominated American archeology. Many sites with dates too old to be compatible with "Clovis first" were published, but these were mostly dismissed under the hegemony of "Clovis first."[5][6] Meanwhile, some indigenous archeologists insisted throughout the "Clovis first" era that the peopling of the Americas was much older than Clovis.[7] Recent publications with very strong evidence for pre-Clovis sites seem to have ended the hegemony of "Clovis first."[8][7][6][9]

List of tools

More information Name, Date (Ma) ...
Name Date
(Ma)		 Location Geographic
area		 Species Type Notes
Dikika[10] 3.39 Hadar, Ethiopia East Africa A. afarensis (presumed) Cut marks on bone Controversial[11][12][13]
Lomekwi 3[14] 3.3 West Turkana, Kenya East Africa Stone tools Mode 0 or Pre-Mode 1 stone tools are named after this site - see Stone tool
Nyayanga[15] 3.0–2.6 Nyayanga, Kenya East Africa Paranthropus (associated) Hominin remains, stone tools Some, e.g. Kathy Shick,[16] have suggested that the user of the tools may have been early Homo butchering Paranthropus as food.

Earliest known Oldowan tools[17]

Masol[18][19] 2.9–2.7 Chandigarh, India South Asia Cut marks on bone Controversial[20]
Bokol Dora 1[21] (BD 1) 2.6 Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia East Africa Stone tools
Gona[22] 2.6 Ethiopia East Africa Stone tools
Bouri Hatayae layer[23] 2.5 Ethiopia East Africa Cut marks and percussion marks on bone
Longgupo[24] 2.48[25] Longgupo, southwest China East Asia Stone tools and dental fragments Controversial. Russell L. Ciochon has retracted the attribution to Homo and casts doubt on the dates of the tools: "Although I no longer consider the Longgupo jaw to be human, the two stone tools still stand as described. They must have been more recent additions to the site."[26] Ciochon provides no direct evidence for his conclusion that the tools were "more recent additions."

See Wushan Man

Aïn Boucherit[27] 2.4 Algeria North Africa Stone tools
Xihoudu[28] 2.4 Shanxi Province, China East Asia Stone tools Controversial[29][30][31][32]
Renzidong[33][34] (Renzi Cave) 2.4–2.0[35] Renzidong, southeast China East Asia Stone tools Controversial[36][37]
Shangchen[38] 2.1 Shaanxi, China East Asia Stone tools and much later hominin remains (H. erectus) Controversial
Drimolen Main Quarry (DMQ)[39][40] 2 South Africa Southern Africa H. erectus,
P. robustus (associated)		 Hominin remains, stone tools, bone tools
Melka Kunture[41] 1.95 Ethiopia East Africa Stone tools Possibly earliest known Acheulean tools, or "proto-Acheulean" or late Oldowan tools.[41]
Riwat[42] 1.9 Riwat, Pakistan South Asia Stone tools Controversial - the tools were found in a "secondary context"[43]
Aïn al Fil[44] 1.8 El Kowm, Syria West Asia Stone tools
Dmanisi[45] 1.8 Dmanisi, Georgia West Asia H. erectus (associated) Hominin remains, stone tools, butchery
Swartkrans[46] 1.8 South Africa Southern Africa Homo, P. robustus (associated) Hominin remains, bone tools
Sterkfontein StW 53[47] 1.8–1.5[48] South Africa Southern Africa Cut marks on hominin bone Controversial[49]
West Turkana[50] 1.76 Kenya East Africa Stone tools Earliest known Acheulean tools[51]
Sangiran[52] 1.6–1.5 Java, Indonesia Sunda Shelf H. erectus (associated) Hominin remains, shell tool cut marks on bone
Socotra Island[53] 2.5–1.4 Socotra Island Indian Ocean H. erectus (presumed) Stone tools Oldowan stone tools. May very well be earliest evidence of seafaring.
Kozarnika, Dimovo Municipality[54] 1.4-1.6 Bulgaria Eastern Europe H. erectus (associated) Stone tools, hominin remains, cut marks on bone
Pirro Nord[55] 1.3-1.6[56] Italy Western Europe Stone tools
Sterkfontein Member 5[57] 1.1-1.6 South Africa Southern Africa Stone tools, Homo and Paranthropus remains
Barranco León[58] 1.2-1.4 Spain Western Europe Stone tools, animal bones, bone flakes
Bois de Riquet US 2[59][60] 1.2 France Western Europe Stone tools
Wolo Sege, So'a Basin[61] 1 Flores, Indonesia Island Southeast Asia H. floresiensis (presumed) Stone tools
Happisburgh[62] 0.9–0.7 Great Britain Western Europe Stone tools
Kalinga site[63] 0.7 Luzon, Philippines Island Southeast Asia H. luzonensis (presumed) Stone tools, cut marks on bone See Nesorhinus
Mata Menge, So'a Basin[64] 0.7 Flores, Indonesia Island Southeast Asia H. floresiensis (presumed) Stone tools
Ounjougou[65] 0.5–0.15 Mali West Africa Stone tools
Talepu[66] 0.2 Sulawesi Island Southeast Asia Stone tools
Cerutti Mastodon site[67] 0.13 California North America Cobbles, percussion marks on bones Controversial[68][69][70]
Warratyi Rockshelter[71] 0.049 South Australia Sahul H. sapiens (presumed) Stone and bone tools, numerous animal remains
Carpenter's Gap Shelter 1[72] 0.049–0.044 Western Australia Sahul H. sapiens (presumed) Ground stone axe flake
Pedra Furada[73] 0.048–0.023 Brazil South America H. sapiens (presumed) Stone tools Controversial[74][75]
Topper site[76] 0.05–0.016 South Carolina, USA North America H. sapiens (presumed) Stone tools Controversial[77][78][79]
Hartley Mammoth Site[80] 0.037 New Mexico North America Butchered bones Controversial[81][82]
Arroyo del Viscaino[83] 0.03 Uruguay South America Cut marks on bone Controversial[84][85]
Chiquihuite cave[86] 0.03 Mexico North America H. sapiens (presumed) Stone tools, animal bones, charcoal Controversial[87][88]
Santa Elina Shelter[89][90] 0.027[91] Brazil South America Stone tools, animal bones Controversial[92]
Cactus Hill[93] 0.018 Virginia, USA North America H. sapiens (presumed) Stone tools Controversial[94]
Rimrock Draw Rockshelter[95] 0.018–0.017 Oregon, USA North America H. sapiens (presumed) Stone tools, animal bones
Monte Verde I[96] 0.018–0.014 Chile South America H. sapiens (presumed) Stone tools, bone fragments, charcoal
Arroyo Seco 2[97] 0.014 Argentina South America H. sapiens (presumed) Stone tools, cut marks on bone
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References

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