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A tiny piece of crystalline quartz no bigger than a grape has shed extraordinary light on the unique adaptations that distinguish man from other primates.
Although the use of tools has long been hailed as a hallmark of humanity, we are not the only species to do so. Chimpanzees and macaques, for example, are known to use rocks to break hard objects such as nuts or oyster shells.
But our fixation on miniaturization is unlike anything we see elsewhere in the primate family tree.
Experts say the crystallized quartz flake found at Boomplaas Cave in South Africa and previously disposed of as waste was probably a poisoned arrowhead used to catch small prey such as hares and turtles 17,000 years ago .
The remarkable discovery of this tiny tool indicates that our ancestors were not simple brutes, but "masters of the aerodynamics", highlighting a key stage in human evolution.
A tiny piece of crystalline quartz no bigger than a grape has shed extraordinary light on the unique adaptations that distinguish man from other primates. According to the researcher, this point could have been poisoned and affixed to an arrow
Hominin technology has experienced at least three waves of miniaturization, the first occurring about 2.6 million years ago, according to researchers at the origin of a new study published in the journal Evolutionary Anthropology.
And it's a trend that still dominates our culture today.
"This is a need we are constantly facing and motivated by," says lead author Justin Pargeter, an anthropologist at Emory University. "Miniaturization is what we do."
According to Pargeter, traces of tiny stone tools can be found in the archaeological archives. Many of these tools measure less than an inch in length.
At the first peak of miniaturization, two million years ago, human ancestors used stone flakes to cut, slice, and pierce tasks for which they previously used teeth or nails.
After a second wave, 100,000 years ago, the development of the bow, arrows and other forms of high-speed weapons required lightweight stone components.
And, towards the end of the last Ice Age, 17,000 years ago, humans were forced to adapt to a changing climate and had to conserve their resources, including rocks used to make tools .
"When the other monkeys used stone tools, they chose to become fat and stayed in the forests where they had evolved," says co-author John Shea, a professor of anthropology at Stony Brook University.
"Hominins have chosen to become small, go everywhere and transform otherwise hostile habitats to meet our ever-changing needs."
The iconic teardrop ax (left) (left) required a large toolbox to produce (left), as opposed to a tiny glitter toolbox. Examples of miniaturized stone tools (right) have appeared over the past 2.6 million years, demonstrating the mastery of aerodynamics
Until Pargeter rediscovered the tiny quartz tool, it was stored at the museum in Iziko, Cape Town, after its collection with other artifacts from Boomplaas.
"It was a diminutive, about the size of a small grape and weighing less than half a penny," said Pargeter.
"You could literally get rid of it."
"I suddenly thought archaeologists might have forgotten a major component of our stone tool folder," says Pargeter.
"In our desire to make" big "discoveries, we may have forgotten tiny but important details.
"Any technology could hide behind our methods, relegated to the rank of bags considered as waste."
Miniaturization is "a need we still face and guide," says lead author Justin Pargeter, an anthropologist at Emory University. "Miniaturization is what we do"
According to the researcher, this type of arrowhead could have been affixed to an arrow tree with the help of a plant-based resin.
And, poisoned by the poison of a plant or insect, it could kill prey without wasting a lot of material.
"The connecting rod penetrates into the animal, sacrificing the small blade, but the arrow comes off so you can keep this component more expensive," says Pargeter.
"Our ancestors were masters of aerodynamics and acted as engineers, rather than as we call them" cavemen ".
The crystalline quartz flake found in the Boomplaas cave in South Africa had previously been rejected as waste.
"They have integrated redundancy into their technological systems, allowing them to easily repair their tools and reduce the impact of errors."
This type of small-scale tool manufacturing is very different from other forms of tool use in primates.
"The hands of other primates are not evolved to allow repeated fine manipulations during high-strength tasks," says Pargeter.
"We have developed a unique precision grip that enhances our miniaturized technology capability."
"Small tools are the choice of technology for a mobile and dispersed population," says Pargeter.
"When Homo sapiens left Africa, they did not carry heavy hand axes, but bows and arrows and smaller stone tools."
What do we know about the history of the stone age?
The Stone Age is a period of human prehistory characterized by the original development of stone tools, which covers more than 95% of human technological prehistory.
It starts with the first known use of stone tools by hominins, ancestors of man, during the stone age, there are about 3.3 million of them. years.
About 400,000 to 200,000 years ago, the pace of innovations in stone technology began to accelerate very slightly, at a time known as the Middle Stone Age.
At the beginning of this era, handaxes were made with exquisite craftsmanship. This eventually gave way to smaller and more varied toolboxes, focusing on flake tools rather than larger central tools.
The Stone Age is a period of human prehistory characterized by the original development of stone tools, which covers more than 95% of human technological prehistory. This image shows neolithic Jadeite axes of the Toulouse Museum
These toolkits were created at least 285,000 years ago in parts of Africa and between 250,000 and 200,000 years ago in Europe and parts of West Asia. These toolboxes last up to at least 50,000 to 28,000 years old.
During the last Stone Age, the pace of innovation has increased and the level of manufacture has increased.
Groups of Homo sapiens have experimented with various raw materials, including bone, ivory and wood, as well as stone.
The period, between 50,000 and 39,000 years ago, is also associated with the advent of modern human behavior in Africa.
Different groups have sought their own distinct cultural identity and have adopted their own ways of doing things.
The Stone Age peoples and their technologies have spread out of Africa over the next few thousand years.
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