Knapped stone tools at Lomekwi are dated to 3.3 million years, about 500,000 years older than the oldest Homo fossil
Source. Harmand et al., 2015; Plummer et al., 2023; Smithsonian, Stone Tools; Berna et al., 2012; Richter et al., 2017; Berger et al., 2025; Henshilwood et al., 2018; Hoffmann et al., 2018; Oktaviana et al., 2026; Sümer et al., 2024.
Method and data
Method. A line spans a published date range; an arrow marks a minimum age; open marks are disputed.
| Item | Kind | Years ago | Youngest (years ago) | Oldest (years ago) | Site | Disputed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knapped stone tools (Lomekwian) | tools | 3,300,000 | 3,300,000 | 3,310,000 | Lomekwi 3, Kenya | Harmand et al., Nature, 2015 | |
| Oldowan tools, butchered hippopotamus | tools | 2,900,000 | 2,595,000 | 3,032,000 | Nyayanga, Kenya | Plummer et al., Science, 2023 | |
| Acheulean hand-axes | tools | 1,760,000 | 1,760,000 | 1,760,000 | Africa | Smithsonian Human Origins Program, Stone Tools | |
| Burning in a cave (bone and ash) | fire | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 | Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa | Berna et al., PNAS, 2012 | |
| Middle Stone Age tools with early Homo sapiens | tools | 315,000 | 281,000 | 349,000 | Jebel Irhoud, Morocco | Richter et al., Nature, 2017 | |
| Engravings attributed to Homo naledi | symbol | 285,000 | 236,000 | 335,000 | Rising Star, South Africa | yes | Berger et al., eLife, 2025 |
| Abstract drawing on stone | symbol | 73,000 | 73,000 | 73,000 | Blombos Cave, South Africa | Henshilwood et al., Nature, 2018 | |
| Cave paintings attributed to Neanderthals | symbol | 64,000 | 64,000 | 64,000 | La Pasiega, Maltravieso, Ardales, Spain | yes | Hoffmann et al., Science, 2018 |
| Hand stencil, oldest dated rock art | symbol | 67,800 | 64,000 | 71,600 | Liang Metanduno, Muna, Indonesia | Oktaviana et al., Nature, 2026 | |
| Early Upper Paleolithic blades (LRJ) | tools | 45,000 | 41,000 | 47,500 | Ranis, Germany | Sümer et al., Nature, 2024 |
