@article {308680,
	title = {Homo erectus at Trinil on Java used shells for tool production and engraving.},
	journal = {Nature},
	volume = {518},
	year = {2015},
	note = {<p>http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature13962.html?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20141204</p>
},
	month = {2015 Feb 12},
	pages = {228-31},
	abstract = {<p>The manufacture of geometric engravings is generally interpreted as indicative of modern cognition and behaviour. Key questions in the debate on the origin of such behaviour are whether this innovation is restricted to Homo sapiens, and whether it has a uniquely African origin. Here we report on a fossil freshwater shell assemblage from the Hauptknochenschicht ({\textquoteright}main bone layer{\textquoteright}) of Trinil (Java, Indonesia), the type locality of Homo erectus discovered by Eug{\`e}ne Dubois in 1891 (refs 2 and 3). In the Dubois collection (in the Naturalis museum, Leiden, The Netherlands) we found evidence for freshwater shellfish consumption by hominins, one unambiguous shell tool, and a shell with a geometric engraving. We dated sediment contained in the shells with (40)Ar/(39)Ar and luminescence dating methods, obtaining a maximum age of 0.54\&nbsp;{\textpm}\&nbsp;0.10 million years and a minimum age of 0.43\&nbsp;{\textpm}\&nbsp;0.05 million years. This implies that the Trinil Hauptknochenschicht is younger than previously estimated. Together, our data indicate that the engraving was made by Homo erectus, and that it is considerably older than the oldest geometric engravings described so far. Although it is at present not possible to assess the function or meaning of the engraved shell, this discovery suggests that engraving abstract patterns was in the realm of Asian Homo erectus cognition and neuromotor control.</p>
},
	keywords = {Animal Shells, Animals, Engraving and Engravings, Fossils, History, Ancient, Hominidae, Indonesia, Mollusca, Tool Use Behavior},
	issn = {1476-4687},
	doi = {10.1038/nature13962},
	url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25470048},
	author = {Joordens, Josephine C A and D{\textquoteright}Errico, Francesco and Wesselingh, Frank P and Munro, Stephen and de Vos, John and Wallinga, Jakob and Ankj{\ae}rgaard, Christina and Reimann, Tony and Wijbrans, Jan R and Kuiper, Klaudia F and M{\"u}cher, Herman J and Coqueugniot, H{\'e}l{\`e}ne and Pri{\'e}, Vincent and Joosten, Ineke and van Os, Bertil and Schulp, Anne S and Panuel, Michel and van der Haas, Victoria and Lustenhouwer, Wim and Reijmer, John J G and Roebroeks, Wil}
}
