A 1.4-million-year-old bone handaxe from Konso, Ethiopia, shows advanced tool technology in the early Acheulean | Zendy

Katsuhiro Sano | Zendy; Yonas Beyene | Zendy; Shigehiro Katoh | Zendy; Daisuke Koyabu | Zendy; Hideki Endo | Zendy; Tomohiko Sasaki | Zendy; Berhane Asfaw | Zendy; Gen Suwa | Zendy

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A 1.4-million-year-old bone handaxe from Konso, Ethiopia, shows advanced tool technology in the early Acheulean

Author(s) -

Katsuhiro Sano,

Yonas Beyene,

Shigehiro Katoh,

Daisuke Koyabu,

Hideki Endo,

Tomohiko Sasaki,

Berhane Asfaw,

Gen Suwa

Publication year - 2020

Publication title -

proceedings of the national academy of sciences

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011

H-Index - 771

eISSN - 1091-6490

pISSN - 0027-8424

DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2006370117

Subject(s) - acheulean , hippopotamus , flake , paleontology , geology , hominidae , early pleistocene , pleistocene , archaeology , geography , biology , anatomy , biological evolution , genetics

Significance We report a rare example of a 1.4-million-y-old large bone fragment shaped into handaxe-like form. This bone tool derives from the Konso Formation in southern Ethiopia, where abundant early Acheulean stone artifacts show considerable technological progression between ∼1.75 and <1.0 Mya. Technological analysis of the bone tool indicates intensive anthropogenic shaping. Edge damage, polish, and striae patterns are consistent with use in longitudinal motions, such as in butchering. The discovery of this bone handaxe shows that advanced flaking technology, practiced at Konso on a variety of lithic materials, was also applied to bone, thus expanding the known technological repertoire of African Early PleistoceneHomo .

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