Selective use of distant stone resources by the earliest Oldowan toolmakers

Finestone, EM ORCID: 0000-0001-9035-6139, Plummer, TW ORCID: 0000-0003-4804-1285, Ditchfield, PW ORCID: 0000-0002-3081-6591, Reeves, JS ORCID: 0000-0002-2017-0539, Braun, DR ORCID: 0000-0002-7300-2635, Bartilol, SK ORCID: 0000-0002-8854-201X, Rotich, NK ORCID: 0000-0002-6157-4660, Bishop, LC ORCID: 0000-0002-4216-8667, Oliver, JS ORCID: 0009-0004-4301-4119, Kinyanjui, RN ORCID: 0000-0003-2032-8321, Petraglia, MD ORCID: 0000-0003-2522-5727, Breeze, PS ORCID: 0000-0003-2575-8021, Lemorini, C ORCID: 0000-0002-6998-1615, Caricola, I ORCID: 0000-0001-7808-3748, Obondo, PO ORCID: 0009-0002-4039-5046 and Potts, R ORCID: 0000-0001-6008-0100 (2025) Selective use of distant stone resources by the earliest Oldowan toolmakers. Science Advances, 11 (33).

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Abstract

The adaptive shift that favored stone tool–assisted behavior in hominins began by 3.3 million years ago. However, evidence from early archaeological sites indicates relatively short-distance stone transport dynamics similar to behaviors observed in nonhuman primates. Here we report selective raw material transport over longer distances than expected at least 2.6 million years ago. Hominins at Nyayanga, Kenya, manufactured Oldowan tools primarily from diverse nonlocal stones, pushing back the date for expanded raw material transport by over half a million years. Nonlocal cobbles were transported up to 13 kilometers for on-site reduction, resulting in assemblage patterns inconsistent with accumulations formed by repeated short-distance transport events. These findings demonstrate that early toolmakers moved stones over substantial distances, possibly in anticipation of food processing needs, representing the earliest archaeologically visible signal for the incorporation of lithic technology into landscape-scale foraging repertoires.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology Q Science > QE Geology > QE701 Paleontology
Divisions:	Biological and Environmental Sciences (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date of acceptance:	24 June 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	22 August 2025
Date Deposited:	22 Aug 2025 15:26
Last Modified:	22 Aug 2025 15:45
DOI or ID number:	10.1126/sciadv.adu5838
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26985

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