Chinese and Kenyan Researchers Discover Stone Age Tool Production Line in Rift Valley

Chinese and Kenyan researchers have discovered a Stone Age "production line" for creating stone tools in the Rift Valley. This excavation revealed hundreds of tools made using advanced techniques, offering insights into early human tool-making.

The discovery helps fill gaps in our understanding of the spread of these techniques and early human history. The archaeologists, from the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the National Museums of Kenya, unearthed around 750 stone tools along with various animal fossils last year.

The majority of these tools were made using the Levallois method. This distinctive technique, developed between 300,000 and 250,000 years ago, allowed early humans to shape and sharpen their tools efficiently.

Named after a Paris suburb where it was first identified, the Levallois method spread across Africa, Europe, and West Asia. Its use continued until about 40,000 years ago. This method offers improved control over the size and shape of the finished stone flake, which could function as a scraper or knife.

Zhao Qingpo, the project’s Chinese site leader and a researcher at the Henan institute, described this technique as a significant milestone in the history of human evolution.

The findings were shared at a joint seminar held in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, in late July. Funded by Chinese resources, the excavation covered two sites across an area of 87 square meters last October and November.

Among the unearthed items were pointed tools and stone flakes produced through the Levallois technique. Zhao likened this to the "standardized industrial production line" of that era.

The discoveries deepen our understanding of technology levels during the Middle Palaeolithic. They offer valuable insights into crucial topics like the origin and diffusion of Levallois technology, as well as the evolution of modern humans.

Furthermore, this find was the only international archaeological discovery from last year recognized by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. It highlights Kenya’s vital role in uncovering the origins of our species, where some of the earliest human fossils and oldest stone tools have also been found.

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