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Archaeologists: Half a Million-Year-Old Elephant Bone Hammer Wasn’t Made by Modern Humans
A 500,000-year-old elephant bone hammer was used by early humans to sharpen flint tools, reflecting advanced tool-making techniques and material selection, scientists say.
- In a paper published recently in Science Advances, archaeologists reported stone tools unearthed at Peña Capón rock shelter, central Spain, made from French chert nearly 800 kilometers away.
- To survive harsh conditions some 25,000 years ago, people living then relied on social networks and exchange, with Peña Capón layers dated by charcoal and bone to the Late Upper Paleolithic timeframe.
- Field teams reported that researchers first noticed a flat jasperoid chert blade and recovered four additional tools, working from October to December via reservoir boat in cold, wet conditions, Alcaraz‑Castaño says.
- The paper's authors argue 'ultraexotic' raw materials symbolized broader social ties, and Manuel Castaño‑Alcaraz says more than two bands likely exchanged them, supporting wide intergroup networks.
- In the broader record, comparable long‑distance trade in shells, obsidian and amber and Venus figurines appearing about 30,000 years ago show wide cultural exchanges, with external archaeologists calling the distances extreme and noting cooperation during climate stress.
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Fossilized tool, "about 500 thousand years old", has a more or less triangular shape and measures about 11 cm thick. elephant bone was considered a rare material.
·Portugal
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The IndependentReposted by 
The Independent (US)
The Independent (US)‘Remarkable’ prehistoric elephant bone tool is oldest in Europe, archaeologists say
Archaeologists said the 500,000-year-old tool was fashioned by ‘ingenious’ prehistoric ancestors
·London, United Kingdom
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Total News Sources15
Leaning Left3Leaning Right1Center3Last UpdatedBias Distribution43% Left, 43% Center
Bias Distribution
- 43% of the sources lean Left, 43% of the sources are Center
43% Center
L 43%
C 43%
14%
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