Stone spear was crafted from half a million years ago

Scientists have found evidence that ancient stone hunting tools appeared much earlier than previously thought for hundreds of thousands of years.

According to the study, both Neanderthal lineages and members of the Homo sapiens family of ancestors of humanity today, to use stone to manipulate into spears, can hunt animals and battle Fight against the enemy.

Previous studies have suggested that these types of tools were the earliest manufactured around 200,000 years ago. However, new findings from South Africa have shown that the ancients created rock weapons based on their inheritance from their ancestors about half a million years ago.

These stone artifacts were used as a spear from 500,000 years ago. (Photo: AP)

This is based on new analysis of 3-inch (7cm) medium-sized stone slabs excavated 30 years ago at Kathu Pan, South Africa. Scientists predict they are about 500,000 years old. What is special is that they are used in the same way as spears or other types of tools, said researcher Jayne Wilkins of the University of Toronto, the study's lead author.

According to Wilkins and colleagues, these artifacts are manipulated into certain shapes that can damage the target audience by the edges. That trait is also found similar to copies of tools to attack antelope. From the age of artifacts, the stone weapon has been used since Homo heidelbergensis.

Thinking together, Sally McBrearty, a professor of anthropology at the University of Connecticut who was not involved in the study, said the artifacts found in South Africa were the spears. Although no reason has been found to suspect whether they were made 500,000 years ago, McBrearty wants to find some more reliable evidence, such as continuing to sample and analyze artifacts. , review geology at the excavation area.