Archaeologists in southwestern Kenya have uncovered stone tools that are estimated to be up to 3 million years old. These tools, which may be the oldest of their kind ever discovered, were found near fossils of Paranthropus, a distant relative of modern humans.
A Surprising Discovery in Nyayanga
The tools were found at the Nyayanga archaeological site, located near Lake Victoria in southwestern Kenya. This site, excavated between 2014 and 2022, yielded over 300 stone tools made primarily from quartz and rhyolite.
These tools are classified as Oldowan, the earliest known stone tool technology, previously thought to be linked exclusively to the genus Homo.
What makes this discovery so significant is that the tools were found alongside fossils of Paranthropus, a hominin species believed to have lived around 2.9 million years ago.
The discovery not only pushes back the timeline for the appearance of Oldowan tools but also suggests that non-Homo species, like Paranthropus, may have used tools—an idea that was previously dismissed.
An extinct genus of non-human hominins would have used tools like those shown above, discovered at the Nyayanga site in Kenya. The stone on the left of the picture, for example, would have been cut to produce sharp splinters.
Challenging Long-Standing Assumptions
For years, scientists believed that only hominins from the genus Homo, such as Homo habilis, created and used stone tools. Researchers had assumed that Paranthropus, with its robust teeth and jaws, did not need tools for food processing. However, this new find challenges that view.
The discovery of Paranthropus fossils alongside stone tools and butchered animal bones suggests that these early hominins may have had the capability to use tools in ways previously unimagined.
“Paranthropus has been thought of as a hominin that didn’t use tools, but the evidence at Nyayanga suggests otherwise,” said Emma Finestone, a paleoanthropologist from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History who worked on the project.
Tools and Butchered Hippopotamuses
The site has also yielded animal remains, including bones from hippopotamuses that show signs of having been butchered. This adds another layer of complexity to the discovery, as it was once thought that early hominins did not have the tools or skills to scavenge large animals.
While it is unclear whether Paranthropus hunted or simply scavenged animal carcasses, the presence of butchered bones strongly suggests that these hominins were capable of processing large animals for meat.
“This is the first time we’ve found evidence that Paranthropus may have been involved in butchering large animals like hippopotamuses,” said Thomas Plummer, a professor of anthropology at Queens College, and lead author of the study published in the journal Science.
“This is a big surprise and could change how we view the relationship between early humans and animals.”
Oldoweyan artifacts have been discovered amid fossilized hippopotamus skeletons at the Nyayanga site.
Oldowan Tools and Their Importance
The tools found at Nyayanga are part of the Oldowan tradition, which is considered one of the earliest forms of tool-making. These tools, though simple in design, were incredibly important in the evolution of early hominins.
Despite their basic appearance, Oldowan tools, such as the ones found at Nyayanga, represent a significant technological advancement in human history.
These tools would have been used for cutting, scraping, and processing meat, and they spread across Africa and beyond for over a million years.
Stone tool–damaged fossilized bones from Bed.
Before this discovery, the oldest known Oldowan tools were found in Ethiopia and dated to approximately 2.6 million years ago.
However, the tools from Nyayanga could be up to 3 million years old, pushing the timeline for the emergence of this tool technology even further back in time.