Did Australopithecus afarensis Also Use Tools?
The recent finds described in the Nature article, however, blur the boundary between Homo and the older australopithecines. In a layer of rock between two reliably dated volcanic layers, McPherron’s team discovered the fossilized bones of two animals — one a cow-like ungulate and one a smaller goat-like mammal. When looked at under an electron microscope, these bones bore the distinctive, straight, parallel cut marks of stone tools. Additionally, chemical analysis of the bones showed that the cut marks had been made before fossilization had taken place, and that small chips of stone were embedded in the cuts. The startling thing for the archaeologists was that the layer the fossils were found in was dated to 3.39 million years old, more than 800,000 years older than Homo habilis and into the range of Australopithecus afarensis, the species of the world-famous Lucy, who lived between three and four million years ago. Images $(function() { $(‘#moreImagesLightbox a’).lightBox(); }); Tool
