Archaeologists put stone tools through modern engineering tests

A team of archaeologists recently applied high-tech engineering tests to stone tools, and the results suggest that even very early members of our genus, like Homo habilis, knew how to select rocks with the right combination of sharpness and durability for the work at hand.Species on the hominin family tree have made and used stone tools for about 2.6 million years that we know of; you could call it a family tradition. Starting around 1.2 million years ago, a later hominin species called Homo erectus made more complex stone tools, like hand-axes.Think about a stone flake from the oldest layers at Olduvai. That simple tool exists because 1.8 million years ago, a Homo habilis picked out a rock, worked the stone into the right shape, and then used it to do something. habilis tool-makers knew that 1.8 million years ago, because dull but sturdy basalt was a more common choice for heavier work or for larger cutting tools, which would be used over and over.