Editing Paleolithic (section)

=== Tools ===
Paleolithic humans made tools of stone, bone (primarily of deer), and wood.<ref name="Stavrianos"/> The early Paleolithic hominins, ''[[Australopithecus]]'', were the first users of stone tools. Excavations in [[Gona, Ethiopia]], have produced thousands of artifacts, and through radioisotopic dating and [[magnetostratigraphy]] the sites can be firmly dated to 2.6&nbsp;million years ago. Evidence shows these early hominins intentionally selected raw stone with good flaking qualities and chose appropriately sized stones for their needs to produce sharp-edged tools for cutting.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Semaw |first1=Sileshi |title=The World's Oldest Stone Artefacts from Gona, Ethiopia: Their Implications for Understanding Stone Technology and Patterns of Human Evolution Between 2.6–1.5 Million Years Ago |journal=[[Journal of Archaeological Science]] |date=2000 |volume=27 |issue=12 |pages=1197–214 |doi=10.1006/jasc.1999.0592 |bibcode=2000JArSc..27.1197S |s2cid=1490212 }}</ref>

The earliest Paleolithic stone tool industry, the [[Oldowan]], began around 2.6&nbsp;million years ago.<ref name=Klein>{{cite book |last=Klein |first=R. |year=1999 |title=The Human Career |url=https://archive.org/details/humancareerhuman00klei_0 |url-access=registration |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |isbn=9780226439631}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Oldowan Stone Tools |url=https://www.bradshawfoundation.com/origins/oldowan_stone_tools.php}}</ref> It produced tools such as [[Chopper (archaeology)|chopper]]s, [[Burin (lithic flake)|burins]], and [[stitching awl]]s. It was completely replaced around 250,000 years ago by the more complex [[Acheulean]] industry, which was first conceived by ''[[Homo ergaster]]'' around 1.8–1.65&nbsp;million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Hélène |last1=Roche |first2=Jean-Philip |last2=Brugal |first3=Anne |last3=Delagnes |first4=Craig |last4=Feibel |first5=Sonia |last5=Harmand |first6=Mzalendo |last6=Kibunjia |first7=Sandrine |last7=Prat |first8=Pierre-Jean |last8=Texier |title=Les sites archéologiques plio-pléistocènes de la formation de Nachukui, Ouest-Turkana, Kenya: bilan synthétique 1997-2001 |language=fr |trans-title=The Plio-Pleistocene archaeological sites of the Nachukui formation, West-Turkana, Kenya: summary report 1997-2001 |pages=663–673 |journal=Palevol Reports |volume=2 |issue=8 |date=2003|doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2003.06.001 |bibcode=2003CRPal...2..663R |url=https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00134898/file/Rocheetal2003.pdf }}</ref> The Acheulean implements completely vanish from the archaeological record around 100,000 years ago and were replaced by more complex Middle Paleolithic tool kits such as the [[Mousterian]] and the [[Aterian]] industries.<ref>[[John Desmond Clark|Clark, JD]], ''Variability in primary and secondary technologies of the Later Acheulian in Africa'' in Milliken, S and Cook, J (eds), 2001</ref>

Lower Paleolithic humans used a variety of stone tools, including [[hand axe]]s and choppers. Although they appear to have used hand axes often, there is disagreement about their use. Interpretations range from cutting and chopping tools, to digging implements, to flaking cores, to the use in traps, and as a purely ritual significance, perhaps in [[Courtship display|courting behavior]]. [[William H. Calvin]] has suggested that some hand axes could have served as "killer [[frisbees]]" meant to be thrown at a herd of animals at a waterhole so as to stun one of them. There are no indications of [[hafting]], and some artifacts are far too large for that. Thus, a thrown hand axe would not usually have penetrated deeply enough to cause very serious injuries. Nevertheless, it could have been an effective weapon for defense against predators. Choppers and [[Scraper (archaeology)|scrapers]] were likely used for skinning and butchering scavenged animals and sharp-ended sticks were often obtained for digging up edible roots. Presumably, early humans used wooden spears as early as 5&nbsp;million years ago to hunt small animals, much as their relatives, [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzees]], have been observed to do in [[Senegal]], Africa.<ref>{{cite news|first=Rick |last=Weiss |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/22/AR2007022201007.html |title=Chimps Observed Making Their Own Weapons |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=22 February 2007}}</ref> Lower Paleolithic humans constructed shelters, such as the possible wood hut at [[Terra Amata (archaeological site)|Terra Amata]].

{{Further|List of earliest tools}}