Tool Making

Certainty Style Key

Hover over keys for definitions:

True Likely Speculative

What is MOCA?
MOCA FAQ...

Human Uniqueness Compared to "Great Apes":

Relative Difference

MOCA Domain:

Culture

MOCA Topic Authors:

Donald E. Brown

Humans are elaborate tool makers. All peoples fashion pounders, containers, cutters, levers, string (tying materials), and weapons. The drill is very widespread if not universal. Humans make permanent tools and make tools to make tools. The tools are often, if not always, made in stylized patterns that allow the tools of one people or group or individual to be readily distinguished from others. Tool making is of very great antiquity, present in almost all sites where there are archaeological remains of humans and present alongside the remains of earlier hominins. Evidence for the use of tools (cut marks on bones) dates to 2,500k BP. Dyed fiber for string dates to 30k BP. Tool making occurs in other species, including nonhuman primates, but usually on an as-needed basis and without stylization.

Related Topics:

Title	Certainty
Art	True
Brain Size	Likely
Consumption of Underground Plant Foods	Likely
Control of Fire	True
Fine Motor Coordination	Speculative
Food Handling	True
Food Preparation	True
Lengthened Relative Thumb Length	Likely
Organized Gathering of Food	True
Organized Hunting for Meat	True
Organized Scavenging for Meat	True
Organized Warfare	True
Physical Modifications of the Body	Likely
Tool Manufacture and Use	True

Referenced By:

Title	Certainty
Apical Phalangeal Tufts	Likely
Art	Likely
Food Preparation	True
Home Base	Speculative
Lengthened Relative Thumb Length	Likely
Opposability of Thumb	Likely
Organized Gathering of Food	Likely
Use of Containers	True

Timing

Timing of Appearance of the Difference in the Hominin Lineage.

For this entry assume that

the common ancestor of humans and old world monkeys was 25000 thousand (25 million) years ago
the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees was 6000 thousand (6 million) years ago
the emergence of the genus Homo was 2000 thousand (2 million) years ago
the common ancestor of modern humans was 100 thousand years ago

Probable Appearance:

2500 Thousand Years

Definite Appearance:

2000 Thousand Years

MOCA Topic Notifications

Manage Notifications

MOCA Topic Feedback

If you would like to leave feedback about this content, you must login into your site user account or, you may create a new account if you do not have one.