Ancient Tools discovered in Kenya Point to Early Humans' Intelligence

[Tony254]

Ancient Tools Discovered in Kenya Point to Early Humans' Intelligence
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Jonathan Kesh
Friday, 16 March 2018 - 6:05PM

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Smithsonian/Human Origins Program
For a long time, historians believed that the first seeds of modern human ingenuity and art began 40,000 - 50,000 years ago during a period called the "Human Revolution".

But perhaps we haven't been giving humanity enough credit. According to new research published in Science, a collection of complex and colorful tools were found in southern Kenya that fly in the face of that model, given that they're dated at about 320,000 years old.

"New finds from Kenya suggest that humans used long-distance trade networks, sophisticated tools, and symbolic pigments right from the dawn of our species." A Cultural Leap at the Dawn of Humanity pic.twitter.com/eARm63Ooyj

— Big History Project (@BigHistoryPro) March 15, 2018


The tools came from about five excavation sides around the Olorgesailie Basin in Kenya, and the discovery wasn't just that they were advanced - because it was mostly simple pointed blades, not the fancy can openers of the modern era - it was that they were made from materials like obsidian that weren't at all local to the area, and were artificially colored with non-local materials.

This would suggest that these early humans were trading among each otherabout 100,000 years earlier than anyone thought. On top of that, these new tools (considered to be from the "Middle Stone Age") were significantly more advanced than the older, clunkier handaxes (from the Acheulean period) found in the area, meaning that these early humans were already innovating and learning how to make better tools.

That might seem like an obvious thing that humans could do, but the earliest known fossils of homo sapiens come from around 300,000 years ago when homo erectus was the dominant hominid, and nobody assumed they were capable of that so early. According to Rick Potts, the director of the National Museum of Natural History's Human Origins Program and one of the lead researchers, who said the following in a statement:

"The earliest evidence for Homo sapiens in eastern Africa is about 200,000 years ago, so this Middle Stone Age evidence we're finding is significantly before that. [Early humans] were rare in their environment based on the fossil record itself, but left these durable calling cards behind, these stone tools. So we know a lot more about the transition in behavior than we do the timing or who actually made these tools."

All of this seems to confirm a prediction made by another of the lead researchers, Alison Brooks, that the current "Human Revolution" model was too Eurocentric and ignored the fossils and artifacts found in Africa.

Now that Brooks and the others have found these tools, it's clear that humans have been a clever bunch for a long, long time.

 

[Tony254]

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/03/signs-symbolic-behavior-emerged-dawn-our-species-africa

 

[Tony254]

Early humans survived wild times in East Africa

 

[Tony254]

Bwana eeh Wakenya wamekuwa werevu kutoka enzi za homo erectus.

 

[Tony254]

ANCIENT TOOLS DISCOVERED IN NEW EXCAVATION SHED LIGHT ON HUMAN BEHAVIOR
BY JANISSA DELZO ON 3/16/18 AT 10:04 AM








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Coloring utensils and other tools found in eastern Africa reveal humans likely became sophisticated much earlier than scientists previously thought, according to new research.

An international team of archaeologists believe that some of the materials were gathered miles away from southern Kenya’s Olorgesailie Basin site, which may indicate social networks were formed about 320,000 years ago—100,000 years earlier than previous estimates.

Alison Brooks, professor of anthropology at The George Washington University, and Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program, look over an excavation site at the Olorgesailie Basin.CREDIT: ALLISON BROOKS

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In one of the three studies published Thursday in the journal Science, the team discussed the exchange of materials, including obsidian, an indigenous rock formed by volcanoes.

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“The obsidian transport and the collection and processing of pigments imply an early development of social networks connecting members of our species,” Alison Brooks, study author and an anthropology professor at The George Washington University, said in a statement. “This practice is characteristic of our species, but in contrast to our closest primate relatives, and is not implied by the material record of the preceding early Stone Age levels at Olorgesailie.”

Thousands of tools have been found at the archaeological site in the past, but they looked much different. The tools were larger and not as carefully crafted as the new ones. In another one of the three Science publications, the researchers discuss extreme environmental changes—including earthquakes and long periods of drought—which could have likely caused early humans to change their lifestyles and the tools they used.

The first evidence of human life in the Olorgesailie Basin comes from about 1.2 million years ago. For hundreds of the thousands of years, people living there made and used large stone-cutting tools called hand axes (left). The sophisticated tools (right) were carefully crafted and more specialized than the large, all-purpose hand axes.HUMAN ORIGINS PROGRAM, SMITHSONIAN

Related: Ancient Egypt: Pieces of King Ramses II statue found in the Temple of Kom Ombo
“This change to a very sophisticated set of behaviors that involved greater mental abilities and more complex social lives may have been the leading edge that distinguished our lineage from other early humans,” Rick Potts, study author and director of the Smithsonian Human Origins Program, said in a statement.

One belief among the scientific community is that life evolved gradually as the environment shifted; however, based on their new findings, Potts and his colleagues believe the shift was much more rapid.

 

[TheStark]

Always wonder what our ancestors were doing some 300 years ago. Other civilisations were going through agrarian and industrial revolutions. Does it mean if we were not colonized we would be in goat skin today.

 

[MK254]

Always wonder what our ancestors were doing some 300 years ago. Other civilisations were going through agrarian and industrial revolutions. Does it mean if we were not colonized we would be in goat skin today.

Sad but true, there so little industrial revolution that has taken place in Africa, we still have not managed to invent anything significant, and even worse, we have not managed to take up manufacturing of already invented stuff.

I feel sad on facts such as, almost all smartphones and laptops in the world use cobalt mineral, and 60% of this mineral is sourced from Congo, where the poor are forced to use hand tools to dig for it, sometimes leading to deaths and killings and child labour, and what they get in return is so little.

 

[kilam]

Sad but true, there so little industrial revolution that has taken place in Africa, we still have not managed to invent anything significant, and even worse, we have not managed to take up manufacturing of already invented stuff.

I feel sad on facts such as, almost all smartphones and laptops in the world use cobalt mineral, and 60% of this mineral is sourced from Congo, where the poor are forced to use hand tools to dig for it, sometimes leading to deaths and killings and child labour, and what they get in return is so little.

Vipimo vyako vya industrial revolution/invention ni vya kizungu kwa hiyo lazima Waafrika wataonekana wajinga tu. Simu, TV na vinginevyo havikuwa na umuhimu kwa Waafrika.

Ukweli ni kwamba kabla ya ukoloni hakukuwa na foleni za barabarani, ukosefu wa ajira, mtu kutembea umbali mrefu kufuata huduma za afya n.k. Matatizo mengi tuliyonayo sasa ni matokeo ya mzungu kutulazimishia mfumo wake wa kimaisha ambao lazima umpigie yeye magoti ili ufanikiwe.

Ebu jiulize kama kabla ya ukoloni mzungu alikuwa na ujeuri wa kuiwekea jamii yoyote ya Kiafrika vikwazo vya kiuchumi.

Scenario hii chini inaeleza kila kitu.

 

[MK254]

Vipimo vyako vya industrial revolution/invention ni vya kizungu kwa hiyo lazima Waafrika wataonekana wajinga tu. Simu, TV na vinginevyo havikuwa na umuhimu kwa Waafrika.

Ukweli ni kwamba kabla ya ukoloni hakukuwa na foleni za barabarani, ukosefu wa ajira, mtu kutembea umbali mrefu kufuata huduma za afya n.k. Matatizo mengi tuliyonayo sasa ni matokea ya mzungu kutulazimishia mfumo wake wa kimaisha ambao lazima umpigie yeye magoti ili ufanikiwe.

Ebu jiulize kama kabla ya ukoloni mzungu alikuwa na ujeuri wa kuiwekea jamii yoyote ya Kiafrika vikwazo vya kiuchumi.

Scenario hii chini inaeleza kila kitu.

Hizi ni rhetoric ambazo huwa tunazitumia kujiliwaza, lakini mimi huwa napenda kuukabili ukweli hata kama mchungu. Matatizo unayoyataja hayo ya mamboleo kama vile foleni, ukosefu wa ajira hayakuwepo hata kwa wazungu enzi zile maana idadi ya watu duniani ilikua ndogo, kila kitu kilikua bikira.

Dunia ya leo inadhihirisha kwamba kuna kasoro fulani Afrika na kwa akili za Mwafrika. Wewe hapo Mtanzania wa leo imembidi hadi mzungu aje akuvumbulie gesi, hukua unajua unayo huo utajiri pamoja na vielimu mnavyopewa hapo UDOM au UDSM, ulikua unakuza mihogo tu na kuishi maisha ya umaskini.

 

[kilam]

Hizi ni rhetoric ambazo huwa tunazitumia kujiliwaza, lakini mimi huwa napenda kuukabili ukweli hata kama mchungu. Matatizo unayoyataja hayo ya mamboleo kama vile foleni, ukosefu wa ajira hayakuwepo hata kwa wazungu enzi zile maana idadi ya watu duniani ilikua ndogo, kila kitu kilikua bikira.

Dunia ya leo inadhihirisha kwamba kuna kasoro fulani Afrika na kwa akili za Mwafrika. Wewe hapo Mtanzania wa leo imembidi hadi mzungu aje akuvumbulie gesi, hukua unajua unayo huo utajiri pamoja na vielimu mnavyopewa hapo UDOM au UDSM, ulikua unakuza mihogo tu na kuishi maisha ya umaskini.

Hivi mtu wa Kiambu ama Nyeri anahitaji gesi ama dhahabu ya nini? Kwenye mfumo huu wa maisha kwa hakika Waafrika ni akili ndogo na hawawezi kufanikiwa kamwe. Ndio maana hata tunavyojipa moyo kuwa tukibadili viongozi tutafanikiwa ni kujidanganya tu.

Ndio maana kuna Lawrence na Abdallah weusi lakini huwezi kukuta mzungu ama mwarabu anaitwa Njoroge. Nakubali kwa asilimia zote kuwa Waafrika tumekwama na hamna namna ya kutoka kwenye umasikini huu.

 

[1academ]

Afrika bwana shida sana, bora ata tuvute walau kidogo tupunguze stress!

 

[TheStark]

Sad but true, there so little industrial revolution that has taken place in Africa, we still have not managed to invent anything significant, and even worse, we have not managed to take up manufacturing of already invented stuff.

I feel sad on facts such as, almost all smartphones and laptops in the world use cobalt mineral, and 60% of this mineral is sourced from Congo, where the poor are forced to use hand tools to dig for it, sometimes leading to deaths and killings and child labour, and what they get in return is so little.

It's weird but I believe that we will get there. Not this generation though, that's because we are at least moving in the same direction with the rest of the world. I mean China's civilization dates back thousands of years, same with European and to some extend Arabic. Jews have exploited the world because they have been doing things for a long time.... But I have hope

 

[TheStark]

Hivi mtu wa Kiambu ama Nyeri anahitaji gesi ama dhahabu ya nini? Kwenye mfumo huu wa maisha kwa hakika Waafrika ni akili ndogo na hawawezi kufanikiwa kamwe. Ndio maana hata tunavyojipa moyo kuwa tukibadili viongozi tutafanikiwa ni kujidanganya tu.

Ndio maana kuna Lawrence na Abdallah weusi lakini huwezi kukuta mzungu ama mwarabu anaitwa Njoroge. Nakubali kwa asilimia zote kuwa Waafrika tumekwama na hamna namna ya kutoka kwenye umasikini huu.

Unafaa kuenda na Wakati. Maisha ya sasa yahitaji hizo vitu bana... Kama si hivo tungetupa ata hizi simu tufuate mkondo wengine walifuata kabla maendeleo kiwafikia.

 

[Tony254]

Vipimo vyako vya industrial revolution/invention ni vya kizungu kwa hiyo lazima Waafrika wataonekana wajinga tu. Simu, TV na vinginevyo havikuwa na umuhimu kwa Waafrika.

Ukweli ni kwamba kabla ya ukoloni hakukuwa na foleni za barabarani, ukosefu wa ajira, mtu kutembea umbali mrefu kufuata huduma za afya n.k. Matatizo mengi tuliyonayo sasa ni matokea ya mzungu kutulazimishia mfumo wake wa kimaisha ambao lazima umpigie yeye magoti ili ufanikiwe.

Ebu jiulize kama kabla ya ukoloni mzungu alikuwa na ujeuri wa kuiwekea jamii yoyote ya Kiafrika vikwazo vya kiuchumi.

Scenario hii chini inaeleza kila kitu.

Kilam. Asante kwa kunifungua akili. Hio post ni ya huzuni lakini hivyo ndivyo wazungu walivyotufanya sisi. Asante