Straight-Tusk Elephants Once Roamed Europe. And We Used Their Bones as Hammers

Straight-Tusk Elephants Once Roamed Europe. And We Used Their Bones as Hammers

A little piece of fossilized elephant bone found in southern England offers a window into the life of our human ancestors. Just 4.3 inches by 2.4 inches, the triangular fossil bone came from either an elephant or a mammoth, given its density and thickness. It was recovered from a well-known archaeological site in Boxgrove, England, in the 1990s, but only now—thanks to advances in imaging techniques—recognized as an elephant bone tool, according …