When did human ancestors use stone tools?
The oldest stone tools anthropologists have found so far are 3.3 million years old. They were from a site called Lomekwi 3 in Kenya. A different kind of tool: Oldowan tools, appear 2.6 million years ago.
To make them, human ancestors broke hard stones in specific ways to create sharp edges they could use. They used Oldowan tools until 1.8 million years ago, when Acheulean tools came on to the scene. These were rocks broken, or flaked, on both sides.
Acheulean tools started disappearing 500,000 years ago when a new technology called the Levallois technique was created. Then stone tools were attached to a handle to make them safer to use. Stone tools continued to be very important for humans right up until metal began being used.
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