A New Origin Proposed for Humanities’ First Stone Technology

An interdisciplinary team of archaeologists, geologists, and human evolutionary specialists hypothesise a new trajectory for the emergence of stone tools used by early humans.

In a published in the journal Archaeometry, researchers from Cambridge’s McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research propose the origins of humanities’ technological prowess lies not with intentionally created stone tools, but ‘naturaliths’ flaked and shaped by natural processes.

For more than a century the first uniquely-human technologies – sharp stones used for cutting – were thought to be pieces of stone intentionally flaked and chipped to display sharp edges.

Although the age of the earliest stone tool sites was repeatedly pushed back, and new types of technologies were defined, the fundamental principal that humans first butchered animals, shaped wooden tools, and processed plant foods with sharp flakes that they created has persisted.

Now, however, Professor Metin I. Eren and Dr Alastair Key, along with a team of 22 other specialists, including from Cambridge’s British Antarctic Survey, outline how early humans likely identified the cutting potential of naturally fractured stones long before they created their own.

Using geological samples gathered from across the globe, including those from Africa, South America, The Arabian Peninsula, Europe, and Antarctica, the team outline how mother nature is capable of producing razor sharp stones, sometimes in surprisingly abundant quantities, through diverse natural process.

These stones would have been ever-present in the African environments where our early ancestors evolved.

Once the utility of these natural knives was learnt, this important information would have been passed onto other individuals and groups, with the use of these naturally sharp stones becoming widespread.

Only after this did early humans learn to create their own sharp stone tools, which have the added benefits of being produced on demand and from wider sources of raw materials.

The eureka moment for lead author, Prof. Eren from Kent State University and Honorary Research Associate at Cambridge’s McDonald Institute, came when he was sitting in a wadi in the deserts near Duqm, Oman, surrounded by thousands of sharp flakes all produced by natural processes like water transport and temperature change. Previously, researchers had assumed that naturally sharp flakes in nature were rare – Eren realized that assumption was incorrect.

In collaboration with Dr Alastair Key, Associate Professor of Palaeolithic 91探花视频 at Cambridge’s Department of 91探花视频, and Dr Michelle Bebber from Kent State University, they first visited the geological stores at the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, to see the ‘naturaliths’ mother nature could make in an environment void of an archaeological record.

After this, fieldwork by other members of the team in Brazil, Kenya, Ireland, and South Africa all revealed similar razor-sharp natural flakes. A deep dive into the literature also showed naturally sharp stones had been documented around the world and endlessly produced by a variety of processes – even by the trampling of elephants and donkeys. It was clear that irrespective of the environment – cold, hot, wet, dry – natural sharp flakes were likely present for early human use.

The team are keen to stress this does not detract from the importance of the earliest stone tools created by humans. The ability to intentionally shape and fracture rock is a highly complex process demonstrative of human-like cognitive, manipulative and potentially dietary thresholds.

Naturaliths, however, may be a ‘missing link,’ shortening the cognitive leap between an absence of stone tools and the appearance of intentionally flaked tools. Naturaliths also potentially extend the depth of the archaeological record. “What we need to do now is find naturaliths in contexts older than 3 million years ago. If they’re there, who knows how far back in time the archaeological record will go,” Eren said.

Close-up examples of the conchoidal- and thermal-fractured chert “balls” near Duqm, Oman. Many of the flakes are still ‘refit’ into their parent ‘core.’ Overtime, however, many flakes loosen and radiate away. (Image by Michelle R. Bebber and Metin I. Eren)

was funded by The Robert J. and Lauren E. Patten Endowment (Kent State University), The Mark F. Seeman Fund (Kent State University) and The Kent State University College of Arts and Sciences.

Published 18 March 2025

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