24 – Earliest known hafted hunting technology

500,000 years ago

Stone tool technology has undergone massive changes from the original simple flaked tools. Perhaps the most versatile of these advancements is the invention of hafted tools. The earliest evidence for hafted tools, where a stone tool is attached to a wooden or bone handle to create a compound tool, precede the date for Homo sapiens. Stone points found at Kathu Pan, South Africa, were likely used as spear tips and hafted to wooden staves.

Image credit Benjamin Schoville

Epoch

    Pleistocene2.58 million to 11,700 years ago

Environmental and Climate Changes

  • Intensification of cold glacial/warm interglacial cycles 1.2 Ma to 600,000 Ya
  • Earth’s climate remains relatively stable with alternating glacial and interglacial periods

Changing Species