Ticia VerveerJan 28, 2023

Scientists have discovered a trove of nearly 600 obsidian hand-axes that were crafted more than 1.2 million years ago in Ethiopia by an unknown group of hominins. This pushes the timeline of obsidian tool use back by 500,000 years.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7zx77/archaeologists-discover-12-million-year-old-workshop-in-mind-blowing-find

A surge in obsidian exploitation more than 1.2 million years ago at Simbiro III (Melka Kunture, Upper Awash, Ethiopia)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01970-1.epdf?sharing_token=6H7hHA4WeId5DJPKN5nRg9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NGmuX0lR0PD9NHM-U5P9w1k72oVvbMm7gEpl_5Bp2o2UaQ3DcebYmzK6wfn2a39cM-wvM3ZY6gpkneT-JpG-o9c1gCDJYJGYPEdvxYNq5bOQR7dKaucu81HthZ8VIC84ljA_PxgYAvTUjjqUjKMc3Y3YGajfKQnc6MK5qr_IZvDQ%3D%3D&tracking_referrer=www.vice.com

Archaeologists Discover 1.2 Million-Year-Old 'Workshop' in Mind-Blowing Find

The discovery pushes the timeline of obsidian tool use back by an astonishing 500,000 years.

Show threadmyrmepropagandistJan 28, 2023

@TiciaVerveer

It just hit me that early humans must have been at least as obsessed with hand axe geometry as I'm obsessed with fountain pen nib geometry.

probably more

probably there were different schools of thought about what side to work first, what level of jaggedness is acceptable in an edge, the value of translucency.

And we just see a bunch of the same hand-ax.

There were probably friendships ruined over their differences.

Show threaddr 🛠️🛰️📡🎧
@futurebird @TiciaVerveer I bet it was a religious war and resulted in many deaths, like with #vim and #emacs
Jan 29, 2023 at 12:28amWeb