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Humans

A radical new idea for how our ancestors invented stone tools

Stone tools are considered the first form of technology devised by ancient humans 鈥 but they might not have been invented from scratch

By Michael Marshall

21 March 2025

Natural processes can turn stones like these chert “balls”, found in a field in Oman, into sharp flakes

Michelle R. Bebber and Metin I. Eren

When ancient humans first invented stone tools, they may have been trying to emulate naturally formed sharp stones, meaning they would not have needed a huge leap of inspiration.

鈥淲hat our hypothesis does is, it really turns the origin of technology entirely on its head,鈥 says at Kent State University in Ohio. Instead of imagining a sharp tool and then figuring out…

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