750,000 BP Hand-axe Found

[Skywizard]

The 'Master Hand-Axe' was found embedded in an exposed stratigraphic sequence in a sinkhole at Kathu Pan in the Northern Cape, South Africa, and dated by association with tooth-plates of the extinct Elephas Reckii Reckii, or Reck's Elephant to approximately 750,000 BP. The knapping of Acheulian bifaces is notoriously difficult, requiring great strength and precision to be maintained over a large number of sequenced procedures.

1928319284

What will they find next? Keep looking guys!

Good read at the source.

Source:
http://www.cope.co.za/archaeo/masterhandaxe.htm


Peace
~skywizard

[DeDukshyn]

err ... maybe i'm asking a dumb question ... but what measurement is a BP?

Its definitely a created tool, wish there was a bit more info.

[Skywizard]

err ... maybe i'm asking a dumb question ... but what measurement is a BP?

I was thinking the same thing, but this was copied from the site??

Go to the source good read.

Googled it it means Before Present

[DeDukshyn]

err ... maybe i'm asking a dumb question ... but what measurement is a BP?

I was thinking the same thing, but this was copied from the site??

Found it! .. rather obvious ... "Before Present" ;) I feel silly now ... ;)


And I meant beyond what is provided on the source site. Perhaps like method and lab used for date testing. Those look extremely well crafted.

[Skywizard]

err ... maybe i'm asking a dumb question ... but what measurement is a BP?

I was thinking the same thing, but this was copied from the site??

Found it! .. rather obvious ... "Before Present" ;) I feel silly now ... ;)

Don't feel bad I didn't know either...:o

[Cidersomerset]

Love the BP typo I pressume its BC..LOL..

Lovely crafted hand axes...


Time Team's Phil Harding's Flint Knapping Demonstration

Sim6tAFqvvU

Oldest Homo Erectus Tools Found, Early Humans Had Tools Way Earlier Than Previously Thought

vid on link..

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/31/early-human-tools-homo-erectus_n_944189.html

History.com - Early humans were creating and using advanced stone tools 1.8 million years ago, much earlier than previously thought, according to archaeologists who unearthed an illuminating new cache of artifacts in northwest Kenya. But Homo erectus didn't export the technology behind these sophisticated hand axes, picks and flakes when the species migrated out of Africa–if the traditional narrative is correct, that is, the researchers wrote in Nature this week.

Taller and more robust than modern humans but with a smaller cranial capacity, Homo erectus appeared roughly 2 million years ago and spread across Africa, Asia and parts of southern Europe before vanishing from the fossil record some 70,000 years ago. Thought to be our direct ancestors, these hominins probably mastered fire and were the first to develop cutting and butchering instruments known as Acheulian tools, named after an archaeological site in Saint-Acheul, France.

Made from chiseled stone, Acheulian tools improved upon the pebble-like chopping implements wielded by Homo erectus’ more primitive cousins such as Homo habilis. According to some scientists, the symmetry of Acheulian tools-epitomized by teardrop- and oval-shaped axes-suggests that Homo erectus might have used language to communicate, since the same regions of the brain control aesthetic awareness and speech. Others have pointed to the artifacts’ sophistication as evidence that their manufacturers could innovate, think ahead and understand spatial relations better than their ancestors.

Click here for a more comprehensive report from History.com.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/8/31/1314790652152/Early-human-hand-axe-008.jpg

These are primitive compaired to flint ones..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/aug/31/hand-axes-oldest-advanced-stone-tools

[DeDukshyn]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_Presenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_Present

[Skywizard]

They say they were dated by association with tooth-plates of the extinct Elephas Reckii Reckii, or Reck's Elephant to approximately 750,000 BP.

What ever the H** that means?? :noidea:

~skywizard

[DeDukshyn]

They say they were dated by association with tooth-plates of the extinct Elephas Reckii Reckii, or Reck's Elephant to approximately 750,000 BP.

What ever the H** that means?? :noidea:

~skywizard

Another Link:
http://www.aggsbach.de/2011/09/short-history-of-the-acheulian-in-south-africa-the-chronology/

Probably the animal it was carved from went extinct 750,000 years ago. Dating by association.

[Wookie]

BP has way more meanings than I thought it would. :bowl: In the op BP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_Present) stands for Before Present. If you are wondering, like I was, "Present" started in 1950.

Peaceful Journeys Wookie

[Skywizard]

They say they were dated by association with tooth-plates of the extinct Elephas Reckii Reckii, or Reck's Elephant to approximately 750,000 BP.

What ever the H** that means?? :noidea:

~skywizard

Another Link:
http://www.aggsbach.de/2011/09/short-history-of-the-acheulian-in-south-africa-the-chronology/

Probably the animal it was carved from went extinct 750,000 years ago. Dating by association.

The site said banded ironstone if that means anything. Maybe they found it stuck in the tooth... :o

[DeDukshyn]

They say they were dated by association with tooth-plates of the extinct Elephas Reckii Reckii, or Reck's Elephant to approximately 750,000 BP.

What ever the H** that means?? :noidea:

~skywizard

Another Link:
http://www.aggsbach.de/2011/09/short-history-of-the-acheulian-in-south-africa-the-chronology/

Probably the animal it was carved from went extinct 750,000 years ago. Dating by association.

The site said banded ironstone if that means anything. Maybe they found it stuck in the tooth... :o

Hehee .. I don't know. Maybe they were able to match up carving marks in the "tooth-plates" with one of the axes ... ?

[Shade]

They say they were dated by association with tooth-plates of the extinct Elephas Reckii Reckii, or Reck's Elephant to approximately 750,000 BP.

What ever the H** that means?? :noidea:

~skywizard


Another Link:
http://www.aggsbach.de/2011/09/short-history-of-the-acheulian-in-south-africa-the-chronology/

Probably the animal it was carved from went extinct 750,000 years ago. Dating by association.

Close, they date it by the animals found in stratigraphy with it, or in the layers above it and below it, by knowing when they went extinct, or first appeared in the fossil record, they can figure out a date before which and after which the artifact could not have been made.
For example, in a more modern case, if they found a piece of something or other alongside a coin dated to 300AD, they know that the thing could not date from before that time but it could be from after, this gives a one sided estimate. Works the same if the coin is found in a layer above it.
With animals, they have a good chart saying which animals appear where in the stratigraphy, when they start and when they stop.

Acheulean tools, which is what the hand axe is considered in the style of, has been around for about 1.7 or so million years and you can walk around places in Africa - and the earth is covered in them - they are not a new or a rare thing. The tools from before the Acheulean were the Oldowan tools and were more primitive than the Acheulean. So what I am saying is that this axe, this story - it is not a revelation. Beautiful tools like this have been found for a long time and are extremely well documented.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acheulean

[Skywizard]

Close, they date it by the animals found in stratigraphy with it, or in the layers above it and below it, by knowing when they went extinct, or first appeared in the fossil record, they can figure out a date before which and after which the artifact could not have been made.
For example, in a more modern case, if they found a piece of something or other alongside a coin dated to 300AD, they know that the thing could not date from before that time but it could be from after, this gives a one sided estimate. Works the same if the coin is found in a layer above it.
With animals, they have a good chart saying which animals appear where in the stratigraphy, when they start and when they stop.

Acheulean tools, which is what the hand axe is considered in the style of, has been around for about 1.7 or so million years and you can walk around places in Africa - and the earth is covered in them - they are not a new or a rare thing. The tools from before the Acheulean were the Oldowan tools and were more primitive than the Acheulean. So what I am saying is that this axe, this story - it is not a revelation. Beautiful tools like this have been found for a long time and are extremely well documented.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acheulean

Here is the whole paragraph: "The 'Master Hand-Axe' was found embedded in an exposed stratigraphic sequence in a sinkhole at Kathu Pan in the Northern Cape, South Africa, and dated by association with tooth-plates of the extinct Elephas Reckii Reckii, or Reck's Elephant to approximately 750,000 BP".

Maybe it just fell in but it said embedded (who knows for sure not me) it is a beautiful carved piece and it looks old... just saying. Good post shade.

Peace
~skywizard

[Shade]

Here is the whole paragraph: "The 'Master Hand-Axe' was found embedded in an exposed stratigraphic sequence in a sinkhole at Kathu Pan in the Northern Cape, South Africa, and dated by association with tooth-plates of the extinct Elephas Reckii Reckii, or Reck's Elephant to approximately 750,000 BP".

Maybe it just fell in but it said embedded (who knows for sure not me) it is a beautiful carved piece and it looks old... just saying. Good post shade.

Peace
~skywizard

Whether it is embedded or 'fell in' - that is the same thing. Embedded in a sequence means simply that it was found IN that sequence. Also, after some time, layers turn into a very hard substance called breccia a lot of the time. To get anything out of it is like getting things out of concrete and needs acid to do so. Anything that 'fell into' that position before it was covered up is said to be 'found embedded' in that layer. If it is just in the layer and it is soft and easy to excavate it is still said to be embedded.

[Skywizard]

Whether it is embedded or 'fell in' - that is the same thing. Embedded in a sequence means simply that it was found IN that sequence. Also, after some time, layers turn into a very hard substance called breccia a lot of the time. To get anything out of it is like getting things out of concrete and needs acid to do so. Anything that 'fell into' that position before it was covered up is said to be 'found embedded' in that layer. If it is breccia, then the word is even more relevant.

Like I said you have made now 2 very good post, I understand and know where you're coming from. It's very likely that's what happened.

Peace~skywizard

[Wookie]

IMO the old elephants made the trunk axes and the monkeys copied them. :suspicious:

Peaceful Journeys Wookie

[778 neighbour of some guy]

The 'Master Hand-Axe' was found embedded in an exposed stratigraphic sequence in a sinkhole at Kathu Pan in the Northern Cape, South Africa, and dated by association with tooth-plates of the extinct Elephas Reckii Reckii, or Reck's Elephant to approximately 750,000 BP. The knapping of Acheulian bifaces is notoriously difficult, requiring great strength and precision to be maintained over a large number of sequenced procedures.

1928319284

What will they find next? Keep looking guys!

Good read at the source.

Source:
http://www.cope.co.za/archaeo/masterhandaxe.htm


Peace
~skywizard

Thanx Skywizard,

amazing pieces of art, beautiful craftmanship, wow!!

[161803398]

What happened in 1950? And is there an AP too?

[Skywizard]

What happened in 1950? And is there an AP too?

Guess that’s when they started using BP instead of BC?? Maybe they thought it would make it easier for folks (like me) not to have to add the before and after to come up with an exact age. :lol:

I think they may use another or did BCE?? (really don’t know).

I only hope we will have an AP (After Present) if that's what you mean.

Peace
~skywizard

[grapevine]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/31/early-human-tools-homo-erectus_n_944189.html



http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/8/31/1314790652152/Early-human-hand-axe-008.jpg

These are primitive compaired to flint ones..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/aug/31/hand-axes-oldest-advanced-stone-tools



Couldn't decide whether these look more like early sculptures of KKK members or Laurel & Hardy! :)