Did Early Hominins Use Tools Like Modern Chimps?
We use tools for almost every aspect of our lives and early hominin species like Homo habilis did too. They created Oldowan stone tools by chipping rocks to create sharp edges. Though important sources of information about early hominins, stone tools were probably not the only tools they used. Tools made from plants or bones may have been used, but they did not survive long enough to be found by paleoanthropologists. Understanding how early hominins may have used tools made from perishable materials would give new insights about their lifestyle, cognitive, and physical abilities.
These stones were modified by ancient Homo habilis into Oldowan tools. Can you think of how this species may have used these tool types?
Studying the tools used by a living species similar to Homo habilis is one way to understand what other tools the early hominins used. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are one species for comparison because they are in the genetically-related hominid family. They have also been observed using stone tools, as well as tools fashioned from perishable materials like sticks and leaves. However, the physiology, cognitive capabilities, and lifestyles of early hominin species seem to be fairly different from chimpanzees. Even the ways they make tools are distinct—chimpanzees don’t intentionally shape their stone tools the way Oldowan choppers appear to be.
This short video documents how researchers first discovered tool use in chimps. Is their behavior similar to how you imagined using Oldowan tools?
By Ben Harrison (’21)