Ancient Humans Used the Same Template to Make Tools Across Wide Distances
Researchers have discovered numerous ancient “Swiss Army” knives made from stone across southern Africa, all seemingly crafted using the same design. This finding suggests that ancient humans engaged in widespread communication across the continent approximately 65,000 years ago, according to a new report.
Shared Template and Complex Information Exchange
The tools appear to have been fashioned in the same way on different sides of the continent, possibly even crafted from a shared template. Paloma de la Peña, a senior research associate at Cambridge University’s McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, stated, “While the making of the stone tool was not particularly difficult, the hafting of the stone to the handle through the use of glue and adhesives was, which highlights that they were sharing and communicating complex information with each other.”
Evidence of Long-Distance Social Ties
An international team led by University of Sydney archaeologist Amy Way published a study on these prehistoric long-distance social ties in the journal Scientific Reports. The researchers found a significant number of these stone tools, known as Howiesons Poort blades, which were used for various tasks such as cutting, drilling, and skinning.
This discovery provides the first evidence of modern homo sapiens communicating with each other across large geographic distances, maintaining social connections, and sharing knowledge, despite living far apart. “The really exciting thing about this find is that it gives us evidence that there was long-distance social connection between people, just before the big migration out of Africa, which involved all of our ancestors,” Way said.
Stronger Social Ties Linked to Successful Migration
Although earlier groups of humans left Africa for Europe, migrations to the continent were not successful until 60,000 to 70,000 years ago. Researchers suggest that stronger social ties may have allowed communities of prehistoric people to continue to flourish as they moved across the globe.
De la Peña told the Guardian, “The main theory as to why modern humans replaced all the other humans living outside Africa around 60,000-70,000 years ago is that our ancestors were much better at social networking than the other species, such as Neanderthals, who were possibly smarter and stronger as individuals, but not great at sharing information.”
