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Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia

Nature volume 466, pages 857–860 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

The oldest direct evidence of stone tool manufacture comes from Gona (Ethiopia) and dates to between 2.6 and 2.5 million years (Myr) ago1. At the nearby Bouri site several cut-marked bones also show stone tool use approximately 2.5 Myr ago2. Here we report stone-tool-inflicted marks on bones found during recent survey work in Dikika, Ethiopia, a research area close to Gona and Bouri. On the basis of low-power microscopic and environmental scanning electron microscope observations, these bones show unambiguous stone-tool cut marks for flesh removal and percussion marks for marrow access. The bones derive from the Sidi Hakoma Member of the Hadar Formation. Established 40Ar–39Ar dates on the tuffs that bracket this member constrain the finds to between 3.42 and 3.24 Myr ago, and stratigraphic scaling between these units and other geological evidence indicate that they are older than 3.39 Myr ago. Our discovery extends by approximately 800,000 years the antiquity of stone tools and of stone-tool-assisted consumption of ungulates by hominins; furthermore, this behaviour can now be attributed to Australopithecus afarensis.

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Figure 1: Geographic and stratigraphic location of DIK-55.
Figure 2: Stone-tool-inflicted marks on DIK55-2, a rib of a probably size 4 or larger ungulate.
Figure 3: Stone-tool-inflicted marks on DIK-55-3, a femur shaft of a size 2 young bovid.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, the National Museum of Ethiopia, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the Afar regional government for permits and support; C. Mesfin, Z. Bedaso, T. Gebreselassie, Mesfin Mekonnen, H. Defar, A. Zerihun, G. Senbeto, Mogues Mekonnen, W. Aberra, T. Yifru and the people of the Dikika area for field assistance. We also thank the administration of Adaytu town and members of the Ethiopian armed forces. Funds for the 2009 field season were provided by the California Academy of Sciences. Travel expenses for D.G., S.P.M., D.R. and J.G.W. were covered by their respective institutions. C.W.M. and H.A.B. acknowledge the assistance of the research professionals in the John M. Cowley Center for High Resolution Electron Microscopy, LE-CSSS, ASU in conducting the ESEM imaging, and J. Thompson and S. Lansing for participating in the blind test. Z.A. thanks P. Mollard and K. Berge for assistance during fieldwork preparations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, DeutscherPlatz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany,

    Shannon P. McPherron

  2. Department of Anthropology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Concourse Drive, San Francisco, California 94118, USA,

    Zeresenay Alemseged

  3. Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, PO Box 872402, Arizona State University, Tempe, 85287-2402, Arizona, USA

    Curtis W. Marean

  4. Department of Geology, University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave, SCA 528, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA,

    Jonathan G. Wynn

  5. Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C3200, Austin, Texas 78712, USA,

    Denné Reed

  6. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UPR 2147, 44 Rue de l'Amiral Mouchez, Paris 75014, France,

    Denis Geraads

  7. Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, 30602, Georgia, USA

    René Bobe

  8. School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, 85287-6106, Arizona, USA

    Hamdallah A. Béarat

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  1. Shannon P. McPherron
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Contributions

S.P.M. is the project archaeologist. Z.A. is the head of the project and palaeoanthropologist. C.W.M. described and analysed the fossil bone specimens and surface modifications. J.G.W. is the project geologist. Fauna were analysed by Z.A., D.R. (micromammals and GIS), D.G. (biostratigraphy), R.B. (palaeoenvironments). H.A.B. conducted the ESEM/SEI/EDX study. All authors contributed to the writing of this paper.

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Correspondence to Shannon P. McPherron.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

This file contains Supplementary Information comprising: 1 Survey Methodology; 2 Faunal list; 3 Stratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental context; 4 Surface modifications on the fossil specimens; Supplementary Figures 1- 23 with legends; Supplementary Tables 1- 3 and References. (PDF 12974 kb)

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McPherron, S., Alemseged, Z., Marean, C. et al. Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia. Nature 466, 857–860 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09248

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