Why can stone tools found near Homo habilis fossils not prove that Homo habilis made them?

The association of stone tools with Homo habilis fossils does not definitively prove that this species manufactured them for several reasons:

• Predating the Genus: The oldest known stone tools, discovered near Kenya’s Lake Turkana, date back approximately 3.3 million years. This is nearly 400,000 to 1 million years before the emergence of the earliest confirmed specimens of the genus Homo. Consequently, these early artifacts were likely constructed by other hominins, such as Australopithecus or Kenyanthropus, who inhabited the region at that time.123
• Lack of Exclusive Association: While tools are often found at the same sites as H. habilis fossils, such as those at Olduvai Gorge, their presence does not confirm that H. habilis was the sole creator. The archaeological record shows that tool use and construction may not have originated with H. habilis or even the Homo genus itself.14
• Alternative Explanations: Assemblages of artifacts and bones can be created through various environmental or biological processes not necessarily related to specific hominin activities. Therefore, finding tools in proximity to fossils provides important clues but does not serve as absolute proof of authorship.4