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Which materials were used to make Oldowan tools?
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Paleolithic Period
The Venus of Willendorf, a Upper Paleolithic limestone figurine originally colored with red ochre, 30,000ā25,000 bce, found at Willendorf, Lower Austria; in the Natural History Museum, Vienna.
Oldowan tools were primarily crafted from stone, specifically pebbles made of quartz, quartzite, or basalt. These stones were typically waterworn and roughly the size of a fist.12
In addition to these stone materials, evidence suggests that early hominids also utilized other substances:
- Bone: Bone tools have been identified at sites such as Olduvai Gorge and Sterkfontein.1
- Wood: It is highly probable that wood was used as a material for tools, though it has not been preserved in the archaeological record.1
The manufacturing process involved using a hammerstone to strike these materials, creating simple, all-purpose implements such as choppers, as well as sharp flakes that were used for cutting and scraping.123