20 – Earliest Acheulean tools
1.7 million years ago
Acheulean tools have been found over a large area of the Old World from southern Africa and northern and western Europe to the Indian subcontinent. They are products of Homo erectus, and this toolkit is characterized by a distinctive teardrop-shaped stone handaxe. Acheulean tools show greater complexity than previous stone tools indicating cognitive development in the hominins that created them.
Image credit Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (https://www.pnas.org).
Epoch
Pleistocene2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
Environmental and Climate Changes
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Pleistocene glaciation 2.5 Ma
Changing Species
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Homo habilis 2.3 to 1.6 Ma
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Paranthropus boisei 2.3 to 1.4 Ma
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Paranthropus robustus 2.3 to 1.2 Ma
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Homo erectus 1.8 Ma to 112,000 Ya