Oldowan is an anthropological designation for an industry of stone tools used by prehistoric hominids in the very early Paleolithic. It is characterized by the use of crudely worked pebble (chopping) tools, that were not constructed after any discernable pattern. The Oldowan industry is named after the site in the Oldoway (Olduvai) Gorge in Africa in which the first such artifacts were found. It was once thought that Homo habilis was the first hominid to craft these tools, however Paranthropus robustus also seems to have founded this crude industry, though to a less sophisticated degree (and probably later). Homo erectus also used the Oldowan tool case (or Oldawan, for later instances), but moved beyond it to more sophisticated tools and weapons during its tenure on Earth. The first Oldowan tools found date back to about 2.4 million years ago. This is the oldest industry of stone tools. Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος = human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ... Ancient stone tools A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made of stone. ... Genera Subfamily Ponginae Pongo - Orangutans Gigantopithecus (extinct) Sivapithecus (extinct) Lufengpithecus (extinct) Ankarapithecus (extinct) Subfamily Homininae Gorilla - Gorillas Pan - Chimpanzees Homo - Humans Dryopithecus (extinct) Ouranopithecus (extinct) Paranthropus (extinct) Australopithecus (extinct) Sahelanthropus (extinct) Orrorin (extinct) Ardipithecus (extinct) Kenyanthropus (extinct) Pierolapithecus (extinct) (tentative) The hominids are the members of the biological family Hominidae... The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (Greek παλαιός paleos=old and λίθος lithos=stone or the Old Stone Age) was the first period in the development of human technology of the Stone Age. ... Olduvai Gorge from space Topography of Olduvai Gorge The Olduvai Gorge is a 30 mile long, steep-sided ravine, part of the Great Rift Valley which stretches along eastern Africa. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest continent and 3rd most populous. ... Binomial name Homo habilis Leakey et al. ... Species Paranthropus aethiopicus Paranthropus boisei Paranthropus robustus Paranthropus is an extinct genus of bipedal hominid that is probably descended from the Australopithecine hominids (Australopithecus). ... Binomial name Homo erectus Dubois, 1894 Subspecies Homo erectus palaeojavanicus Homo erectus soloensis Homo erectus (upright man) is a hominid species that is believed to be an ancestor of modern humans. ... (Redirected from 2. ...

These tools are often found to be so crude that they are difficult to tell from naturally formed materials. Though these tools were not particularly advanced by human standards they required more skill to create and construct than is observed in any current living primate of today, save man. The tools were made of pebbles of quartz, quartzite, or basalt which was chipped in two directions to form basic all-purpose tools capable of chopping, scraping, or cutting. They were effective for their purposes and demonstrate conscious deliberation not found in typical animals. These crude artifacts reflect the mentality of their owners; industrious and opportunistic scavengers. These were not weapons and the architects of the Oldowan industry were not yet a match for prehistoric predators. Whole dens filled with fossilized remains of Homo habilis skeletons (among other prehistoric prey) that were eaten by prehistoric cats have been excavated and identified by scientists.¹ Families 13, See classification A primate is any member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains all lemurs, monkeys, apes, and humans. ... Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the Earths crust. ... Quartzite Quartzite is a hard, metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. ... Basalt Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock, sometimes porphyritic, and is often both fine-grained and dense. ... In biology, the skeleton or skeletal system is the biological system providing support in living organisms. ... Trinomial name Felis silvestris catus (Linnaeus, 1758) The cat, also called domestic cat or house cat, is a small feline carnivorous mammal of the subspecies Felis silvestris catus. ...

Footnotes

1. Ironically, many scientists drew the erroneous conclusion upon this discovery that it was the Homo habilis, the presumed mighty tool user, who was the predator that occupied such dens. Later it was discovered that the H. habilis bones had been stripped and chewed on, leading scientists to think that H. habilis was a cannibalistic species. Eventually more rigorous study revealed that poor H. habilis just couldn't run very fast and that the site in question wasn't an H. habilis den at all, but the den of a prehistoric leopard.