Did neanderthals invent RECYCLING? Human ancestors collected broken tools to make new ones 300,000 years ago
- Early hominids collected broken and discarded tools to reshape them
- Evidence of this recycling found in Spain, North Africa, Italy and Israel
- Researchers claim this highlights recycling's role as a basic survival strategy
By ELLIE ZOLFAGHARIFARD PUBLISHED: 14:16 GMT, 11 October 2013 | UPDATED: 15:27 GMT, 11 October 2013
If you thought recycling was a concept created by modern eco-warriers, then think again. As far back as 1.3 million years ago, there are clues that our prehistoric ancestors learned to recycle the objects they used in their daily lives, according to researchers. Archaeologists have found tools that they believe have been reused by cavemen in caves in Spain and North Africa to sites in Italy and Israel.
There is mounting evidence that our prehistoric ancestors learned to recycle the objects they used in their daily lives. Researchers have found evidence of this in areas such as this cave at the north of Israel next to the city of Zichron Yaakov (pictured)
'For the first time we are revealing the extent of this phenomenon, both in terms of the amount of recycling that went on and the different methods used,' said Ran Barkai, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University.Early hominids - including Homo erectus, Neanderthals and other species - would collect discarded or broken tools made of flint and bone to create new utensils, just as we recycle paper Barkai said.
The behaviour 'appeared at different times, in different places, with different methods according to the context and the availability of raw materials,' he told The Associated Press. Researchers believe the early appearance of recycling highlights its role as a basic survival strategy.'Why do we recycle plastic? To conserve energy and raw materials,' said Avi Gopher an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University.
The Qesam cave at the north of Israel (pictured) uncovered flint chips that had been reshaped into small blades to cut meat - a primitive form of cutlery
Stone tools and discarded flint flakes would often function as core material to create smaller tools like blades and scrapers. These ancient stone tools were not part of the recent study
CLUES OF PREHISTORIC RECYCLING
There are early suggestion that ancient man recycled 1.3 million years ago.
This is according to finds in Fuente Nueva, on the shores of a prehistoric lake in southern Spain.
But here there was only basic reworking of flint and it was hard to tell whether this was really recycling.
Researchers believe 'systematic recycling' happened half a million years ago.
Evidence of this has been found from bone tools in a dry pond near Rome.
The bones were shattered to extract the marrow, then the fragments were shaped into tools.
At Qesem cave, a site near Tel Aviv dating back to between 200,000 and 420,000 years ago, researchers found flint chips that had been reshaped into small blades to cut meat.
'In the same way, if you recycled flint you didn't have to go all the way to the quarry to get more, so you conserved your energy and saved on the material.'Some cases may date as far back as 1.3 million years ago, according to finds in Fuente Nueva, on the shores of a prehistoric lake in southern Spain. Here there was only basic reworking of flint and it was hard to tell whether this was really recycling, said Deborah Barsky, an archaeologist with the University of Tarragona.'I think it was just something you picked up unconsciously and used to make something else,' Barsky said. 'Only after years and years does this become systematic.'That started happening about half a million years ago or later.
For example, a dry pond in Castel di Guido, near Rome, has yielded bone tools used some 300,000 years ago by Neanderthals who hunted or scavenged elephant carcasses there, said Giovanni Boschian, a geologist from the University of Pisa.'We find several levels of reuse and recycling,' he said. 'The bones were shattered to extract the marrow, then the fragments were shaped into tools, abandoned, and finally reworked to be used again.'
Recycling was widespread not only among early humans but among our evolutionary predecessors such as Homo erectus, Neanderthals and other species of hominids
Some cases of recycling may date as far back as 1.3 million years ago, according to finds in Fuente Nueva, on the shores of a prehistoric lake in southern Spain. But there was only basic reworking of flint tools, such as the ones pictured, and it was hard to tell whether this was really recycling
At other sites, stone hand-axes and discarded flint flakes would often function as core material to create smaller tools like blades and scrapers. Sometimes hominids found a use even for the tiny flakes that flew off the stone during the knapping process. At Qesem cave, a site near Tel Aviv dating back to between 200,000 and 420,000 years ago, Gopher and Barkai uncovered flint chips that had been reshaped into small blades to cut meat - a primitive form of cutlery. Some 10 percent of the tools found at the site were recycled in some way, Gopher said. 'It was not an occasional behavior; it was part of the way they did things, part of their way of life,' he said. He said scientists have various ways to determine if a tool was recycled. They can find direct evidence of retouching and reuse, or they can look at the object's patina - a progressive discoloration that occurs once stone is exposed to the elements.
Early hominids - including Homo erectus, Neanderthals and other species - would collect discarded or broken tools made of flint and bone to create new utensils, just as we recycle paper
Differences in the patina indicate that a fresh layer of material was exposed hundreds or thousands of years after the tool's first incarnation.Some experts claim researchers should be cautious to draw parallels between this ancient behavior and the current forms of systematic recycling, driven by mass production and environmental concerns.'It is very useful to think about prehistoric recycling,' said Daniel Amick, a professor of anthropology at Chicago's Loyola University.
'But I think that when they recycled they did so on an `ad hoc' basis, when the need arose.' The conference, titled 'The Origins of Recycling', gathered nearly 50 scholars from about 10 countries to compare notes and figure out what the phenomenon meant for our ancestors.Participants in the conference plan to submit papers to be published next year in a special volume of Quaternary International, a peer-reviewed journal focusing on the study of the last 2.6 million years of Earth's history.
If you thought recycling was a concept created by modern eco-warriers, then think again. As far back as 1.3 million years ago, there are clues that our prehistoric ancestors learned to recycle the objects they used in their daily lives, according to researchers. Archaeologists have found tools that they believe have been reused by cavemen in caves in Spain and North Africa to sites in Italy and Israel.
There is mounting evidence that our prehistoric ancestors learned to recycle the objects they used in their daily lives. Researchers have found evidence of this in areas such as this cave at the north of Israel next to the city of Zichron Yaakov (pictured)
'For the first time we are revealing the extent of this phenomenon, both in terms of the amount of recycling that went on and the different methods used,' said Ran Barkai, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University.Early hominids - including Homo erectus, Neanderthals and other species - would collect discarded or broken tools made of flint and bone to create new utensils, just as we recycle paper Barkai said.
The behaviour 'appeared at different times, in different places, with different methods according to the context and the availability of raw materials,' he told The Associated Press. Researchers believe the early appearance of recycling highlights its role as a basic survival strategy.'Why do we recycle plastic? To conserve energy and raw materials,' said Avi Gopher an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University.
The Qesam cave at the north of Israel (pictured) uncovered flint chips that had been reshaped into small blades to cut meat - a primitive form of cutlery
Stone tools and discarded flint flakes would often function as core material to create smaller tools like blades and scrapers. These ancient stone tools were not part of the recent study
CLUES OF PREHISTORIC RECYCLING
There are early suggestion that ancient man recycled 1.3 million years ago.
This is according to finds in Fuente Nueva, on the shores of a prehistoric lake in southern Spain.
But here there was only basic reworking of flint and it was hard to tell whether this was really recycling.
Researchers believe 'systematic recycling' happened half a million years ago.
Evidence of this has been found from bone tools in a dry pond near Rome.
The bones were shattered to extract the marrow, then the fragments were shaped into tools.
At Qesem cave, a site near Tel Aviv dating back to between 200,000 and 420,000 years ago, researchers found flint chips that had been reshaped into small blades to cut meat.
'In the same way, if you recycled flint you didn't have to go all the way to the quarry to get more, so you conserved your energy and saved on the material.'Some cases may date as far back as 1.3 million years ago, according to finds in Fuente Nueva, on the shores of a prehistoric lake in southern Spain. Here there was only basic reworking of flint and it was hard to tell whether this was really recycling, said Deborah Barsky, an archaeologist with the University of Tarragona.'I think it was just something you picked up unconsciously and used to make something else,' Barsky said. 'Only after years and years does this become systematic.'That started happening about half a million years ago or later.
For example, a dry pond in Castel di Guido, near Rome, has yielded bone tools used some 300,000 years ago by Neanderthals who hunted or scavenged elephant carcasses there, said Giovanni Boschian, a geologist from the University of Pisa.'We find several levels of reuse and recycling,' he said. 'The bones were shattered to extract the marrow, then the fragments were shaped into tools, abandoned, and finally reworked to be used again.'
Recycling was widespread not only among early humans but among our evolutionary predecessors such as Homo erectus, Neanderthals and other species of hominids
Some cases of recycling may date as far back as 1.3 million years ago, according to finds in Fuente Nueva, on the shores of a prehistoric lake in southern Spain. But there was only basic reworking of flint tools, such as the ones pictured, and it was hard to tell whether this was really recycling
At other sites, stone hand-axes and discarded flint flakes would often function as core material to create smaller tools like blades and scrapers. Sometimes hominids found a use even for the tiny flakes that flew off the stone during the knapping process. At Qesem cave, a site near Tel Aviv dating back to between 200,000 and 420,000 years ago, Gopher and Barkai uncovered flint chips that had been reshaped into small blades to cut meat - a primitive form of cutlery. Some 10 percent of the tools found at the site were recycled in some way, Gopher said. 'It was not an occasional behavior; it was part of the way they did things, part of their way of life,' he said. He said scientists have various ways to determine if a tool was recycled. They can find direct evidence of retouching and reuse, or they can look at the object's patina - a progressive discoloration that occurs once stone is exposed to the elements.
Early hominids - including Homo erectus, Neanderthals and other species - would collect discarded or broken tools made of flint and bone to create new utensils, just as we recycle paper
Differences in the patina indicate that a fresh layer of material was exposed hundreds or thousands of years after the tool's first incarnation.Some experts claim researchers should be cautious to draw parallels between this ancient behavior and the current forms of systematic recycling, driven by mass production and environmental concerns.'It is very useful to think about prehistoric recycling,' said Daniel Amick, a professor of anthropology at Chicago's Loyola University.
'But I think that when they recycled they did so on an `ad hoc' basis, when the need arose.' The conference, titled 'The Origins of Recycling', gathered nearly 50 scholars from about 10 countries to compare notes and figure out what the phenomenon meant for our ancestors.Participants in the conference plan to submit papers to be published next year in a special volume of Quaternary International, a peer-reviewed journal focusing on the study of the last 2.6 million years of Earth's history.
