List of earliest tools

The following table attempts to list the oldest-known Paleolithic and Paleo-Indian sites where hominin tools have been found. It includes sites where compelling evidence of hominin tool use has been found, even if no actual tools have been found.

Stone tools preserve more readily than tools of many other materials.^[1][2] So the oldest tools that we can find in many areas are going to be stone tools. It could be that these tools were once accompanied by, or even preceded by, non-stone tools that we cannot find because they did not preserve.

Similarly, hard materials like bone or shell are more likely than softer materials to leave discernible cut marks on bone. Bamboo has been shown to leave cut marks on bone that are harder to see than cut marks by stone.^[3] So the earliest evidence of tool use that we are likely to find are often cut marks made on bone by stone or shell tools. Therefore, it should not be assumed that the items on this list represent the earliest uses of tools in each area, but rather the earliest uses of tools that have been found.

Because it focuses on only the earliest evidence of tools, and since the earliest evidence is biased towards stone by stone's increased likelihood of preservation, this page necessarily omits mention of many significant ancient tools of non-stone materials simply because those cases are not among the earliest found within their geographic area. See Timeline of historic inventions for other noteworthy tools and other inventions.

With its focus on tools, this list also omits some sites with the earliest evidence for the existence of hominins, but without evidence for tools. Many such sites have hominin bones, teeth, or footprints, but unless they also include evidence for tools or tool use, they are omitted here.

This list excludes tools and tool use attributed to non-hominin species. See Tool use by non-humans. Since there are far too many hominin tool sites to list on a single page, this page attempts to list the 6 or fewer top candidates for oldest tool site within each significant geographic area.

Geographic areas covered

• Africa
  • East Africa
  • North Africa
  • Southern Africa
  • West Africa
• Americas
  • North America
  • South America
• Asia
  • East Asia
  • Island Southeast Asia - Islands between Sunda Shelf and Sahul, not connected^[4] to either one during the Last Glacial Maximum
  • South Asia
  • Sunda Shelf
  • West Asia
• Europe
  • Eastern Europe
  • Western Europe
• Sahul - Australia and New Guinea
• Indian Ocean

For much of the 20th century, a "Clovis first" idea dominated American archeology. Many sites with dates too old to be compatible with "Clovis first" were published, but these were mostly dismissed under the hegemony of "Clovis first."^[5][6] Meanwhile some indigenous archeologists insisted throughout the "Clovis first" era that the peopling of the Americas was much older than Clovis.^[7] Recent publications with very strong evidence for pre-Clovis sites seem to have ended the hegemony of "Clovis first."^[8][7][6][9]

List of tools

Name	Date (Ma)	Location	Geographic area	Species	Type	Notes
Dikika[10]	3.39	Hadar, Ethiopia	East Africa	A. afarensis (presumed)	Cut marks on bone	Controversial[11][12][13]
Lomekwi 3[14]	3.3	West Turkana, Kenya	East Africa		Stone tools	Mode 0 or Pre-Mode 1 stone tools are named after this site - see Stone tool
Nyayanga[15]	3.0–2.6	Nyayanga, Kenya	East Africa	Paranthropus (associated)	Hominin remains, stone tools	Some, e.g. Kathy Shick,[16] have suggested that the user of the tools may have been early Homo butchering Paranthropus as food.
Masol[17][18]	2.9–2.7	Chandigarh, India	South Asia		Stone tools and cut marks on bone	Controversial[19]
Bokol Dora 1[20] (BD 1)	2.6	Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia	East Africa		Stone tools
Gona[21]	2.6	Ethiopia	East Africa		Stone tools and cut marks on bone
Perdikkas [22] [23]	3.0–2.5	Perdikkas, Greece	Eastern Europe		”Butchered” mammoth bones, stone tools	Controversial
Bouri Hatayae layer[24]	2.5	Ethiopia	East Africa		Cut marks and percussion marks on bone
Longgupo[25]	2.48[26]	Longgupo, southwest China	East Asia		Stone tools and dental fragments	Controversial. Russell L. Ciochon has retracted the attribution to Homo and casts doubt on the dates of the tools: "Although I no longer consider the Longgupo jaw to be human, the two stone tools still stand as described. They must have been more recent additions to the site."[27] Ciochon provides no direct evidence for his conclusion that the tools were "more recent additions." See Wushan Man
Aïn Boucherit[28]	2.4	Algeria	North Africa		Stone tools
Xihoudu[29]	2.4	Shanxi Province, China	East Asia		Stone tools
Renzidong[30][31] (Renzi Cave)	2.4–2.0[32]	Renzidong, southeast China	East Asia		Stone tools	Controversial[33][34]
Shangchen[35]	2.1	Shaanxi, China	East Asia		Stone tools and much later hominin remains (H. erectus)
Drimolen Main Quarry (DMQ)[36][37]	2	South Africa	Southern Africa	H. erectus, P. robustus (associated)	Hominin remains, stone tools, bone tools
Riwat[38]	1.9	Riwat, Pakistan	South Asia		Stone tools	Controversial - the tools were found in a "secondary context"[39]
Aïn al Fil[40]	1.8	El Kowm, Syria	West Asia		Stone tools
Dmanisi[41]	1.8	Dmanisi, Georgia	West Asia	H. erectus (associated)	Hominin remains, stone tools, butchery
Swartkrans[42]	1.8	South Africa	Southern Africa	Homo, P. robustus (associated)	Hominin remains, bone tools
Sterkfontein StW 53[43]	1.8–1.5[44]	South Africa	Southern Africa		Cut marks on hominin bone	Controversial[45]
Sangiran[46]	1.6–1.5	Java, Indonesia	Sunda Shelf	H. erectus (associated)	Hominin remains, shell tool cut marks on bone
Socotra Island[47]	2.5–1.4	Socotra Island	Indian Ocean	H. erectus (presumed)	Stone tools	Oldowan stone tools. May very well be earliest evidence of seafaring.
Kozarnika, Dimovo Municipality[48]	1.4-1.6	Bulgaria	Eastern Europe	H. erectus (associated)	Stone tools, hominin remains, cut marks on bone
Pirro Nord[49]	1.3-1.6[50]	Italy	Western Europe		Stone tools
Sterkfontein Member 5[51]	1.1-1.6	South Africa	Southern Africa		Stone tools, Homo and Paranthropus remains
Barranco León[52]	1.2-1.4	Spain	Western Europe		Stone tools, animal bones, bone flakes
Bois de Riquet US 2[53][54]	1.2	France	Western Europe		Stone tools
Wolo Sege, So'a Basin[55]	1	Flores, Indonesia	Island Southeast Asia	H. floresiensis (presumed)	Stone tools
Happisburgh[56]	0.9–0.7	Great Britain	Western Europe		Stone tools
Kalinga site[57]	0.7	Luzon, Philippines	Island Southeast Asia	H. luzonensis (presumed)	Stone tools, cut marks on bone	See Nesorhinus
Mata Menge, So'a Basin[58]	0.7	Flores, Indonesia	Island Southeast Asia	H. floresiensis (presumed)	Stone tools
Ounjougou[59]	0.5–0.15	Mali	West Africa		Stone tools
Talepu[60]	0.2	Sulawesi	Island Southeast Asia		Stone tools
Cerutti Mastodon site[61]	0.13	California	North America		Cobbles, percussion marks on bones	Controversial[62][63][64]
Warratyi Rockshelter[65]	0.049	South Australia	Sahul	H. sapiens (presumed)	Stone and bone tools, numerous animal remains
Carpenter's Gap Shelter 1[66]	0.049–0.044	Western Australia	Sahul	H. sapiens (presumed)	Ground stone axe flake
Pedra Furada[67]	0.048–0.023	Brazil	South America	H. sapiens (presumed)	Stone tools	Controversial[68][69]
Topper site[70]	0.05–0.016	South Carolina, USA	North America	H. sapiens (presumed)	Stone tools	Controversial[71][72][73]
Hartley Mammoth Site[74]	0.037	New Mexico	North America		Butchered bones	Controversial[75][76]
Arroyo del Viscaino[77]	0.03	Uruguay	South America		Cut marks on bone	Controversial[78][79]
Chiquihuite cave[80]	0.03	Mexico	North America	H. sapiens (presumed)	Stone tools, animal bones, charcoal	Controversial[81][82]
Santa Elina Shelter[83][84]	0.027[85]	Brazil	South America		Stone tools, animal bones	Controversial[86]
Cactus Hill[87]	0.018	Virginia, USA	North America	H. sapiens (presumed)	Stone tools	Controversial[88]
Rimrock Draw Rockshelter[89]	0.018–0.017	Oregon, USA	North America	H. sapiens (presumed)	Stone tools, animal bones
Monte Verde I[90]	0.018–0.014	Chile	South America	H. sapiens (presumed)	Stone tools, bone fragments, charcoal
Arroyo Seco 2[91]	0.014	Argentina	South America	H. sapiens (presumed)	Stone tools, cut marks on bone

See also

• Hominini
• List of human evolution fossils
• Stone Age
• Stone tool
• Timeline of historic inventions
• Tool use by non-humans