A collaborative team of researchers from Denmark, the Czech Republic and additional nations has identified Europe’s oldest stone tools in western Ukraine. The work appears in a leading science journal, Nature.
Researchers studied scrapers crafted from volcanic rocks. These artifacts were first uncovered during excavations at the Korolevo quarry in Ukraine’s Transcarpathian region dating back to the 1970s.
Dating indicates the instruments are roughly between 1.4 million and 1 million years old, a range determined through modern scientific methods.
“This marks the earliest evidence of any human lineage in Europe,” remarked Mads Faurshu Knudsen, a geophysicist at Aarhus University in Denmark and a co-author of the study.
The precise ancestry of the toolmakers remains uncertain. The finds could belong to early Homo erectus populations or related lineages, with archaeologists suggesting the tools were used for meat processing and hide work.
Previously, the oldest tools of this category were discovered in East Africa and are dated to about 2.8 million years ago.
Experts believe that African populations used these innovations to spread northward, adapting to a range of environments during early migrations into Eurasia.
A surprising note from the field is the ongoing discussion about related Neanderthal technologies. Some archaeologists point to evidence that Neanderthals mastered complex resin-based adhesives and crafted handles for various implements, illustrating a shared trajectory of tool enhancement in Europe.