500,000 year old arrow tips

[swright81076]

Just come across an interesting piece. Apparently stone arrow tops have been discovered and dated to half a million years old....
Its mind boggling that our ancestors had these skills, and probably many others that have since been forgotten, all those years ago. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we had this knowledge even further back in time.

http://www.latinospost.com/articles/6938/20121115/oldest-stone-spear-tips-found-came-200.htm

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[Andy BB]

Interestingly, it may well be that the creators of these arrows may not be our ancestors - just cousins......

 

[Toddy]

Look up Boxgrove ........and they now reckon they have good evidence that early hominids were in England 700,000 years ago.
We know that H.Heidelbergensis came after Homo Erectus, and that species made tools (Aechulian points) at least 1,750,000 years ago.

This 'making' is such an incredibly important part of our entire existance, that when I meet people who make nothing, I feel they are somehow flawed. Tool creation, tool use, and the concept of how to do both, is hardwired into healthy brains

The archaeological record is incredibly impoverished by the lack of organic remains. We have tools blades, edges, and some of the worked stone and bone, but the wood, the leather, the cordages, the weavings....they're lost Makes our ancestors look primitive, when they were indeed highly skilled.

I think that's why I take such offence at those who claim that we needed some outside influence to 'kick start' our humanity. As if the wonder of all those eons of slow evolution wasn't enough.

cheers,
M

 

[Elen Sentier]

Look up Boxgrove ........and they now reckon they have good evidence that early hominids were in England 700,000 years ago.
We know that H.Heidelbergensis came after Homo Erectus, and that species made tools (Aechulian points) at least 1,750,000 years ago.

This 'making' is such an incredibly important part of our entire existance, that when I meet people who make nothing, I feel they are somehow flawed. Tool creation, tool use, and the concept of how to do both, is hardwired into healthy brains

The archaeological record is incredibly impoverished by the lack of organic remains. We have tools blades, edges, and some of the worked stone and bone, but the wood, the leather, the cordages, the weavings....they're lost Makes our ancestors look primitive, when they were indeed highly skilled.

I think that's why I take such offence at those who claim that we needed some outside influence to 'kick start' our humanity. As if the wonder of all those eons of slow evolution wasn't enough.

cheers,
M

Mary, I so much agree! Been working with archaeologists digging our Iron Age hillfort this summer and keep having to mutter "absence of evidence is NOT evidence of absence". The old "Ugg Ugg!" along with "nasty, brutish and short" attitudes to the lives of our ancestors is gradually dying out but there's still a lot of it about. The neanderthal use of ochre pigments for art was a good shake-up for archaeologists, along with Boxgrove. In many ways I feel we've gone backwards! 15 hrs/wk "work" for our hunter-gatherer anestors and the sort of lifestyle that can produce the Swimming Reindeer seems good to me, and that was only 13K yrs ago. Happisburgh was a good eye-opener too
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jul/07/first-humans-britain-stone-tools

 

[Kepis]

I was lucky enough a couple of years back to see and hold a hand axe that had been dated to approx 485,000 years old and i thought the one i held a few months prior to that at 250,000 years old was mind blowing

 

[Wayland]

Snip> This 'making' is such an incredibly important part of our entire existance, that when I meet people who make nothing, I feel they are somehow flawed. Tool creation, tool use, and the concept of how to do both, is hardwired into healthy brains <Snip

He he... I wouldn't have thought of it quite so solidly but I know what you mean.

I've lived and worked around people that make and do all my life so it just feels right to me.

I think most people hold themselves back with some misplaced fear of failure.

I've never met any fully functioning human being that couldn't make things when really set to it.

 

[sandbender]

"...This 'making' is such an incredibly important part of our entire existance, that when I meet people who make nothing, I feel they are somehow flawed. Tool creation, tool use, and the concept of how to do both, is hardwired into healthy brains
..."

Brilliant!

I saw the OP's article elsewhere, It is pretty clear that there has been an awful lot of history, before what we call history began.

 

[Cromm]

Outstanding.

 

[Dave]

Interesting reading.

I was watching a documentary the other day which mentioned that about 15,000 years ago, in present day Israel, there were such an abundance of wild grasses, it only took 3-4 weeks to harvest enough food for a family of four to live for a year!!

I wouldnt mind that.

 

[Gaudette]

I think this is also on topic. I have always believed our history is far older, deeper and more interesting than is widely believed.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/nov/15/stone-spear-early-human-species?cat=science&type=article

 

[Ahjno]

This 'making' is such an incredibly important part of our entire existance, that when I meet people who make nothing, I feel they are somehow flawed. Tool creation, tool use, and the concept of how to do both, is hardwired into healthy brains

I don't believe there are people on this earth who make nothing. Everyone does, maybe not bushcrafty or history related. There are people who simply don't give a darn thing. In a way you may describe them as more evolved: making a knife from a piece of flint isn't of much use in our IT era - so they toss useless knowledge overboard and learnt new skills.

Everyone creates or makes: be it food, to drawings, clothing, or things they do in their job - not only the obvious things (welding, baking, etc) but also creating data, reports, etc.

Some are more creative than others, no flaws. Live and let live.

 

[Toddy]

No, I've met people to whom the concept of dirtying one's hands by actually using them is beneath them. That's what other people are for
Flawed.

atb,
M

 

[Andy BB]

You'll all burn as heretics - the world is only 6000 years old..................

 

[Andy BB]

.........................allegedly

 

[robin wood]

This 'making' is such an incredibly important part of our entire existance, that when I meet people who make nothing, I feel they are somehow flawed. Tool creation, tool use, and the concept of how to do both, is hardwired into healthy brains

The archaeological record is incredibly impoverished by the lack of organic remains.
M

I've lived and worked around people that make and do all my life so it just feels right to me.

I think most people hold themselves back with some misplaced fear of failure.

If we had a "Like" button for comments I'd be clicking away here, couldn't agree more with both these views.

 

[Andy BB]

Sorry, but don't go along with this "if you can't make a flint knife you're a disgrace to your race" attitude. people have modern skills for the modern world. The taxman might have no idea how to start a fire with a bowdrill, but the money he collects helps to pay for the doctors and nurses that keep newborne babies alive a lot better than they did in days of yore.

 

[Toddy]

I didn't say that the crafting skills had to be primitive; that they are relevant to our modern world in no way detracts from the fact that they make things.
It's the actual making, the thought behind the crafting, the alteration to suit the materials, the need; it's the whole process that's a fundamental human thing.

M

 

[Wayland]

I can make tools with flint or pictures on a computer, the mindset is just the same.

"I can do" instead of "I can't"

 

[stuart f]

I personally(and i can only speak for myself) think that when you craft or create something from the earths finite resources, you gain a deeper knowledge and understanding, which then teaches you respect for said resources, which inturn makes you nurture rather than consume. We have basically,each and every one of us, been taut from a very young age, is, that your soul purpose in adult life is to make money. Money does'nt teach husbandry of the finite resources we have, touching/ making/ feeling/ smelling and using, make for a more greater awareness,far more than money ever can.

When i have passed on knowledge,and watched someone create an implement, from natural resources, i have seen the connectedness they get,with the making/using of said implement. I have often said to people who made something, that they will be gutted when they either break or lose that implement. But money only teaches the person, that if they break/lose an item which they bought with money, can be easily replaced by spending more money. The intimacy with the implement has been lost,therefore cheapening its worth.

And to me thats why we take the earth for granted.

Now i am not suggesting for one minute, that we have to turn the clock back,and live a simpler, money free life, thats not going to happen, what i would suggest though, is that we teach people, to touch/feel/make, which will create intamacy with the resources and then our enviroment, rather than throwing money at it, in the vain hope it will make it better.

Only when the last tree has died
and the last river been poisoned
and the last fish been caught
will we realise we cannot eat money


Cree Indian Proverb.


Cheers Stuart.