What stone tools found in southern tip of Africa tell us about the human storyДuring the Howiesons Poort, these blades were produced in enormous numbers across southern Africa.Дata from Sibudu Cave in South Africa shows that their peak in production occurred during a very dry period, when there was less rain and vegetation. While the making of the stone blade was not particularly difficult, the binding of the stone to the handle was, involving complex glue and adhesive recipes. They were used to process plant material, hide, feathers and fur. There is evidence the stone blades were often glued or bound to handles or shafts to make complex tools such as spears, knives, saws, scrapers and drills, and used as tips and barbs for arrows.

Previously it has been thought people made these blades in response to various environmental stresses, because just like the Swiss Army knife they are multi-functional and multi-use. Importantly, this shows for the first time that social connections were in place in southern Africa just before the big вЂњout of AfricaвЂќ migration. The fact they were all made to look so similar points to strong social connections between geographically distant groups across southern Africa at this time. However, around 65,000 years ago, it turns out they were made to a very similar template across thousands of kilometres and multiple environmental niches. Paloma de la PeГ±a, Author providedДЄcross southern Africa, these blades could have been made in any number of different shapes in different places. Similar designs of вЂStone Swiss Army knivesвЂ™ have been found across southern Africa. This potential variety is what makes these small blades so useful to test the hypothesis that social connections existed more than 60,000 years ago. They are found across the globe and come in many different shapes. Archaeologists call these sharp, multipurpose tools вЂњbacked artefactsвЂќ, but you can think of them as a вЂњstone Swiss Army knifeвЂќ: the kind of useful tool you carry around to do various jobs you canвЂ™t do by hand. Social connectivity 65,000 years agoДЄ small, common stone tool gave us an opportunity to test this idea in southern Africa, during a period known as the Howiesons Poort around 65,000 years ago. We assume that the people who made those objects, like people today, were social creatures who made objects with cultural meanings.

To address this question, archaeologists examine tools and other human-made objects that still survive today. But how do we observe these social networks in the deep past? How a handful of prehistoric geniuses launched humanity's technological revolutionДЄrchaeologists think the development of social networks and the ability to share knowledge between different groups was the key to this success.

Prehistoric kingdom map