The use of tools have been an essential part of human history and culture, even before modern humans evolved. Being made up of many layers, tools are valuable sources of evidence that reflects the dexterity and cognitive abilities that the hominid species possesses whether extinct or still living. In this essay, I will be discussing the impact of tools use and the effectiveness it had on our evolutionary history and cultural practices. Developments towards human evolution that aided tool making throughout history such as opposable thumbs, larger brain size and bipedalism will be highlighted and thus will explain the different level of tool use between humans and chimpanzees. Secondly the essay will then discuss early hominin tools such as the
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The tool was found in Olduvai, modern Tanzania, and is not yet known exactly to which species were responsible for the creation of the stone tools due to the vast range of hominin species at the current time of creation. The objects found in the Oldowan site were sharp flakes and the cores of stones, which are both reported to be used as tools. Assumptions can be made of the early hominin lifestyles by analyzing these prehistoric tools, the experiments showed that they were most likely used for work like cutting meat, slitting hides and sharpening wood (Ember, Ember & Peregrine, 2007, p.143), which indicated a hunter gatherer lifestyle. The Oldowan tools, may look simple in appearance, but yet it already shows much advancement from those used by chimpanzees and illustrates the cognitive development of early hominins. Oldowan tools are categorized and known as Mode 1 tools, which are then succeeded by Mode 2 tools known as the Acheulean tools. This tool is mainly used and popularized by the Homo erectus. Acheulean tools were often standardized, both of size and shape. This is evidence and raises indication that there was tool making with a certain "preconceived design"(Ambrose, 2001, p.1748) in mind, which displays another step in the evolution of hominins. The last of the non-human hominin tools is the Mousterian industry.which is roughly between 300,000 and 30,000 years ago. Being linked to Homo neanderthalensis, these Mode 3 tools show the degree of complexity achievable by non-humans in tool-making. The Oldowan, Acheulean and Mousterian industries give a good ground on which human tool use is developed. What limits the complexity of these tools is arguably the lack of culture and language in early hominins, which makes cumulative knowledge of tool-making difficult to achieve. The last paragraph will draw out and
The tool was found in Olduvai, modern Tanzania, and is not yet known exactly to which species were responsible for the creation of the stone tools due to the vast range of hominin species at the current time of creation. The objects found in the Oldowan site were sharp flakes and the cores of stones, which are both reported to be used as tools. Assumptions can be made of the early hominin lifestyles by analyzing these prehistoric tools, the experiments showed that they were most likely used for work like cutting meat, slitting hides and sharpening wood (Ember, Ember & Peregrine, 2007, p.143), which indicated a hunter gatherer lifestyle. The Oldowan tools, may look simple in appearance, but yet it already shows much advancement from those used by chimpanzees and illustrates the cognitive development of early hominins. Oldowan tools are categorized and known as Mode 1 tools, which are then succeeded by Mode 2 tools known as the Acheulean tools. This tool is mainly used and popularized by the Homo erectus. Acheulean tools were often standardized, both of size and shape. This is evidence and raises indication that there was tool making with a certain "preconceived design"(Ambrose, 2001, p.1748) in mind, which displays another step in the evolution of hominins. The last of the non-human hominin tools is the Mousterian industry.which is roughly between 300,000 and 30,000 years ago. Being linked to Homo neanderthalensis, these Mode 3 tools show the degree of complexity achievable by non-humans in tool-making. The Oldowan, Acheulean and Mousterian industries give a good ground on which human tool use is developed. What limits the complexity of these tools is arguably the lack of culture and language in early hominins, which makes cumulative knowledge of tool-making difficult to achieve. The last paragraph will draw out and