Approximately 900,000 years ago Stone Tech 2.0 was introduced in Spain. Anthropologist Diego Lombao of the University of Santiago de Compostela and his colleagues have found the earliest known European example of advanced methods of using stone tools. The technological leap discovered at El Barranco de la Boelha in northeastern Spain occurred before the evolutionary split between modern humans and Neanderthals; therefore, these advances in stone tools were likely made and used by our common ancestors and/or other now-extinct human species.

“The technological behavior observed at El Barranco de la Boella indicates significant technological advances and predictive behavior,” Lombao and his team write in their paper.

The analysis showed that the way the tools were made followed a common sequence, meaning the craftsmen used a common template to achieve consistent results. These ancient people also produced tools larger than those seen before and adapted them for specific purposes.

Together, these features point to “a sophisticated level of foresight and planning.”

The oldest known stone tools, classified as Oldowan or Mode 1, date to approximately 3 million years ago. These first tools, made by ancient hominids in Africa, were the result of hammering one stone into another. The resulting pieces had sharp edges that could be sharpened with more blows.

What Lombao and his colleagues discovered is the earliest European evidence of more complex Mode 2 techniques producing Acheulean axes. They are created from Mode 1 processes by further refining using other materials such as bone and wood to help refine the blades. The resulting vehicles were also likely symmetrical.

Ancient people living at El Barranco de la Boelha during the Early Middle Pleistocene created a complex process that involved the transport of various local materials to make their axes and clays at various stages of their production. They chose specific materials for different purposes, such as flint (flint) for their smaller tools and slate for their larger tools.

“Barranque de la Boella is a unique testament to humanoid technological change in Europe at a time when tools were not only utilitarian but also involved complex planning and more efficient use of resources,” says Lombao.

However, there are hints that this new technology may not originate from El Barranc de la Boella. The sudden emergence of some methods in the region suggests that new methods emerged through migration rather than local development.

Moreover, these tools are very similar to other sites such as Ubaydiyah in the Levant.

“We hypothesize that El Barranco de la Boella may represent an early Acheulean dispersal from Africa approximately 1.4 million years ago,” the researchers write.

These tools are thought to be very important because they provide early evidence of the cognitive ability to use a mental model that involves prediction and planning.

“This site shows us that technological innovation is not linear or at all sudden, but is the result of many waves of population dispersal and the gradual arrival of new technological behaviors from Africa to Europe,” Lombao explains.

Approximately 300,000 years later, humanity made another technological breakthrough in tool use, ushering in the cumulative culture we incorporate today. This study was published on: Journal of Paleolithic Archeology.