Editing Stone Age (section)

=====Oldowan out of Africa=====
Tools of the Oldowan tradition first came to archaeological attention in Europe, where, being intrusive and not well defined, compared to the Acheulean, they were puzzling to archaeologists. The mystery would be elucidated by African archaeology at Olduvai, but meanwhile, in the early 20th century, the term "Pre-Acheulean" came into use in [[climatology]]. C.&nbsp;E.&nbsp;P. Brooks, a British climatologist working in the United States, used the term to describe a "chalky boulder clay" underlying a layer of gravel at [[Hoxne]], central England, where Acheulean tools had been found.<ref>{{citation | first=Charles E. P. |last=Brooks | contribution=The Correlation of the Quaternary Deposits of the British Isles with Those of the Continent of Europe | title=Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution 1917 | year=1919 | location=Washington | publisher=Government Pronting Office | page=277}}</ref> Whether any tools would be found in it and what type was not known. [[Hugo Obermaier]], a contemporary German archaeologist working in Spain, stated:<!--previously "quipped" which implies humour, but this is not humorous-->

{{quote|Unfortunately, the stage of human industry which corresponds to these deposits cannot be positively identified. All we can say is that it is pre-Acheulean.}}

This uncertainty was clarified by the subsequent excavations at Olduvai; nevertheless, the term is still in use for pre-Acheulean contexts, mainly across Eurasia, that are yet unspecified or uncertain but with the understanding that they are or will turn out to be pebble-tool.<ref>{{cite book | first=Hugo |last=Obermaier | author-link=Hugo Obermaier |author2=Christine Matthew |author3=Henry Osborne | title=Fossil Man in Spain | location=New Haven | publisher=Yale University Press for the Hispanic Society of America | year=1924 | page=272}}</ref>

There are ample associations of Mode 2 with ''H.&nbsp;erectus'' in Eurasia. ''H.&nbsp;erectus''&nbsp;– Mode 1 associations are scantier but they do exist, especially in the Far East. One strong piece of evidence prevents the conclusion that only ''H.&nbsp;erectus'' reached Eurasia: at [[Yiron]], Israel, Mode 1 tools have been found dating to 2.4&nbsp;mya,<ref>{{harvnb|Barham|Mitchell|2008|pp=106–107}}</ref> about 0.5&nbsp;my earlier than the known ''H.&nbsp;erectus'' finds. If the date is correct, either another Hominan preceded ''H.&nbsp;erectus'' out of Africa or the earliest ''H.&nbsp;erectus'' has yet to be found.

After the initial appearance at Gona in Ethiopia at 2.7 mya, pebble tools date from 2.0&nbsp;mya at [[Sterkfontein]], Member 5, South Africa, and from 1.8&nbsp;mya at El Kherba, Algeria, North Africa. The manufacturers had already left pebble tools at [[Yiron]], Israel, at 2.4 mya, [[Riwat]], Pakistan, at 2.0&nbsp;mya, and Renzidong, South China, at over 2&nbsp;mya.<ref name=Shea55-57>{{harvnb|Shea|2010|pp=55–57}}</ref> The identification of a fossil skull at Mojokerta, Pernung Peninsula on [[Java]], dated to 1.8&nbsp;mya, as ''H.&nbsp;erectus'', suggests that the African finds are not the earliest to be found in Africa, or that, in fact, erectus did not originate in Africa after all but on the plains of Asia.<ref name=B&M145/> The outcome of the issue waits for more substantial evidence. Erectus was found also at [[Dmanisi]], Georgia, from 1.75&nbsp;mya in association with pebble tools.

Pebble tools are found the latest first in southern Europe and then in northern Europe. They begin in the open areas of Italy and Spain, the earliest dated to 1.6&nbsp;mya at Pirro Nord, Italy. The mountains of Italy are rising at a rapid rate in the framework of geologic time; at 1.6&nbsp;mya they were lower and covered with grassland (as much of the highlands still are). Europe was otherwise mountainous and covered over with dense forest, a formidable terrain for warm-weather savanna dwellers. Similarly there is no evidence that the Mediterranean was passable at Gibraltar or anywhere else to ''H.&nbsp;erectus'' or earlier hominins. They might have reached Italy and Spain along the coasts.

In northern Europe, pebble tools are found earliest at [[Happisburgh]], United Kingdom, from 0.8&nbsp;mya. The last traces are from [[Kent's Cavern]], dated 0.5&nbsp;mya. By that time ''H.&nbsp;erectus'' is regarded as having been extinct; however, a more modern version apparently had evolved, ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]'', who must have inherited the tools.<ref>{{harvnb|Barham|Mitchell|2008|p=24}}</ref> He{{who?|date=October 2024}} also explains the last of the Acheulean in Germany at 0.4&nbsp;mya.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, archaeologists worked on the assumption that a succession of hominins and cultures prevailed, that one replaced another. Today the presence of multiple hominins living contemporaneously near each other for long periods is accepted as proven true; moreover, by the time the previously assumed "earliest" culture arrived in northern Europe, the rest of Africa and Eurasia had progressed to the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, so that across the earth all three were for a time contemporaneous. In any given region there was a progression from Oldowan to Acheulean, Lower to Upper, no doubt.