The first stone tools
A sharp edge becomes the beginning of technology
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The finds at Lomekwi 3 near Lake Turkana are dated to 3.3 million years, before the genus Homo even existed. The later Oldowan industry and the more refined Acheulean handaxes represent a technology that stayed almost unchanged for over a million years. Access to meat and marrow gave an energy-dense diet, which many researchers link directly to a shorter gut and a larger brain. Tool use is also the first clear sign of knowledge passed between generations.
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Someone struck two stones together and found that the flake that broke off was razor sharp. With it they could cut meat off bone and crack nuts open. That is the very first invention in human history — and every other one builds on it.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org