OLDOWAN TOOLS

=Oldowan Tools= [image:http://i.imgur.com/mVFrpBF.png?1] '''Oldowan tools''' were the most basic of the '''Lower Paleolithic Era''' (early stone age). These tools were made from river-warn pebbles that had been struck against another rock to give a few sharp flakes as well as a ‘core’ with sharp edge. This simple technique is known as ''hard hammer percussion''. These tools were first widely used by ''Homo habilis'' and broken bones found with these Hominins indicate these tools were used to '''break open bones and scrape out the nutritious and energy rich bone marrow''' from scavenged carcasses. This may have provided the protein and energy that allowed the further development of the brain. [image:http://i.imgur.com/fbKsfNS.png?1] Using a stone to produce flakes from another stone and then using them to cut something involves a chain of events that was probably too complex for early hominins to string together in a single flash of inspiration. It is far more likely that it proceeded in stages, the earliest tools being an unintended result of an unrelated processes such as cracking fruits. Eventually, our ancestors would learn to make these tools, not by design, but by mimicking older individuals.