Stone Tools
Explore stone tools — humanity's first and longest-used technology, from crude Oldowan choppers 3.3 million years ago to polished Neolithic axes.
Stone tools are humanity's original technology — and by far its most enduring. The oldest known stone tools, from the Lomekwi site in Kenya, date to 3.3 million years ago, predating our own genus Homo. From these crude beginnings, stone tool technology underwent millions of years of refinement, producing an archaeological record of increasing sophistication that tracks the cognitive evolution of our ancestors.
Archaeologists classify stone tool traditions into broad categories. Oldowan tools (c. 2.6 million years ago) are simple flakes struck from river cobbles — crude but effective for cutting meat and processing plant materials. Acheulean hand-axes (c. 1.7 million years ago), associated with Homo erectus, show bilateral symmetry and standardized form, suggesting genuine planning and aesthetic sensibility. The Middle Stone Age and Upper Paleolithic saw the development of increasingly specialized tools: blades, scrapers, projectile points, and composite tools combining stone, bone, and wood.
Stone tool-making — called "knapping" — requires significant skill, planning, and knowledge of raw materials. Experimental archaeologists who have learned to replicate ancient tools report that it takes years of practice to achieve consistent results. The sophisticated stone technologies of the Upper Paleolithic, requiring multi-step preparation sequences and precise control, represent intellectual achievements as impressive as any in human history.