Stone tools and animal bones with cut marks, excavated at a site in eastern Algeria, are up to 2.4 million years old, the oldest archaeological evidence in North Africa and one of the oldest known examples of butchery. The finds suggest hominins, members of the human family tree, were living in the region almost half a million years earlier than previously thought.
Paleoanthropologists had long believed that tool use among hominins began in East Africa. The oldest stone tools, 3.3 million years old, have been found there, as well as numerous other examples that show how their manufacture evolved over millions of years. For example, the oldest widespread tool technology, the Oldowan, appears to have emerged in the region at least 2.6 million years ago.
Researchers once thought, based on initial finds, that the Oldowan style originated with Homo habilis, the earliest known member of our genus. It now appears, however, that the tool technology may predate that species and could be an innovation of a late australopith, ancestors of Homo. The Oldowan style eventually spread as far as China, though at many sites it is unclear which hominin species made the tools.
