Our understanding of our ancestors gets pretty murky when you go far enough back in time. Still, scientists have discovered numerous tools associated with Homo erectus — widely regarded as a direct ancestor to modern humans — over the years. For example, researchers recently discovered tools in Kenya (associated possibly with Paranthropus or another precursor to the Homo genus) that may date back as far as 3 million years.
But there's a difference between making a few tools when the opportunity arises and having an actual workshop you can use and pass down to your descendants.And as scientists have been learning, our ancestors were capable of both, showing that they were making plans rather than just reacting to their immediate environment.
Indeed, researchers have now confirmed one of the earliest known workshops of the human genus at a flint rock exposure in northern Israel — a place that individuals likely used for tens of thousands of years. The work was published in June in the journal Geoarchaeology.
“They probably transferred this knowledge through many generations,” says Meir Finkel, a geoarchaeologist at Tel Aviv University in Israel and coauthor on the recent study.
