Title: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: karadan on December 30, 2008, 04:12:27 PM
Post by: karadan on December 30, 2008, 04:12:27 PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/p ... html/1.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/sci_nat_enl_1229969616/html/1.stm)
I wonder if god put them there to test us? I wonder what his agenda is...
I wonder if god put them there to test us? I wonder what his agenda is...
Title: Re: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: Wechtlein Uns on December 30, 2008, 04:21:26 PM
Post by: Wechtlein Uns on December 30, 2008, 04:21:26 PM
I doubt they were used by homo sapiens. Probably some other reasonably advanced species that eventually died out.
Title: Re: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: Kylyssa on December 30, 2008, 04:35:32 PM
Post by: Kylyssa on December 30, 2008, 04:35:32 PM
They were used by people,not homo sapiens, but people. That is totally awesome!
Title: Re: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: Squid on December 30, 2008, 04:47:46 PM
Post by: Squid on December 30, 2008, 04:47:46 PM
Quote from: "Wechtlein Uns"I doubt they were used by homo sapiens. Probably some other reasonably advanced species that eventually died out.
No, Homo sapiens don't go back that far, our species originated around 200,000 or so years ago. Our modern sub-species (Homo sapiens sapiens) appeared around 110,000 or so years ago. That far back it was most likely the work of Homo habilis, the very first species of the Homo genus.
Title: Re: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: DennisK on December 30, 2008, 06:41:20 PM
Post by: DennisK on December 30, 2008, 06:41:20 PM
Very cool! Is there any description of the tools?
Title: Re: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: karadan on December 31, 2008, 09:11:46 AM
Post by: karadan on December 31, 2008, 09:11:46 AM
Quote from: "DennisK"Very cool! Is there any description of the tools?
Only that they were made out of stone. Unfortunately there was no article, just a picture with a description.
Title: Re: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: BadPoison on December 31, 2008, 05:09:04 PM
Post by: BadPoison on December 31, 2008, 05:09:04 PM
I found this webpage that has some information on presumably the same cave. Check it out for yourselves.
http://www.donsmaps.com/wonderwerk.html
But it does appear that this is not a new discovery (though no less fantastic) -- the webpage implies that there were stone tools found to be 2million years old+ in 1993 (if i'm reading correctly)
http://www.donsmaps.com/wonderwerk.html
But it does appear that this is not a new discovery (though no less fantastic) -- the webpage implies that there were stone tools found to be 2million years old+ in 1993 (if i'm reading correctly)
Title: Re: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: crocofish on December 31, 2008, 07:17:42 PM
Post by: crocofish on December 31, 2008, 07:17:42 PM
Quote from: "Squid"That far back it was most likely the work of Homo habilis, the very first species of the Homo genus.The caption of the picture states that it is probably the work of Homo Habilis. Tool use is seen in some of the present day great apes, otters, and some birds, although they typically are not carving their own tools out of stone, just using available sticks and stones.
Title: Re: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: Squid on December 31, 2008, 08:46:31 PM
Post by: Squid on December 31, 2008, 08:46:31 PM
Quote from: "crocofish"Quote from: "Squid"That far back it was most likely the work of Homo habilis, the very first species of the Homo genus.The caption of the picture states that it is probably the work of Homo Habilis. Tool use is seen in some of the present day great apes, otters, and some birds, although they typically are not carving their own tools out of stone, just using available sticks and stones.
Very true. I have a fairly recent article (somewhere) on chimps fashioning crude spears to hunt Bush Babies.
Title: Re: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: BadPoison on December 31, 2008, 09:11:12 PM
Post by: BadPoison on December 31, 2008, 09:11:12 PM
These wo articles are a little off-topic, but they address chimpanzees and their use of tools, and perhaps their personhood.
"Chimps pass on gadget use like humans"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19108970/
And:
"Chimps: Not Human, But Are They People?"
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/10/chimpanzees-not.html
"Chimps pass on gadget use like humans"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19108970/
And:
"Chimps: Not Human, But Are They People?"
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/10/chimpanzees-not.html
Title: Re: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: SSY on December 31, 2008, 10:50:50 PM
Post by: SSY on December 31, 2008, 10:50:50 PM
I love observing tool use in animals, my favorites are ravens that become attached to their own grub hunting spines and carry their favorite one around with them rather than getting new ones.
Title: Re: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: karadan on January 02, 2009, 09:19:47 AM
Post by: karadan on January 02, 2009, 09:19:47 AM
Quote from: "SSY"I love observing tool use in animals, my favorites are ravens that become attached to their own grub hunting spines and carry their favorite one around with them rather than getting new ones.
Ravens and crows are really intelligent. They can work out some amazingly complex puzzles, but only when the reward is right :p
Title: Re: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: BadPoison on January 02, 2009, 04:04:15 PM
Post by: BadPoison on January 02, 2009, 04:04:15 PM
I'm fascinated by animals that display culture. Orcas and penguins as my favorite examples.
Title: Re: 2 Million year old tools found in a South African cave.
Post by: karadan on January 02, 2009, 07:07:56 PM
Post by: karadan on January 02, 2009, 07:07:56 PM
Quote from: "BadPoison"I'm fascinated by animals that display culture. Orcas and penguins as my favorite examples.
Yeah, penguins are totally ace.