Stone tool discovery suggests very first humans were inventors

The very first humans millions of years ago may have been inventors, according to a discovery in northwest Kenya.

Researchers have found that the primitive humans who lived 2.75 million years ago at an archaeological site called Namorotukunan used stone tools continuously for 300,000 years.

Evidence previously suggested that early human tool use was sporadic: randomly developed and quickly forgotten.

The Namorotukunan find is the first to show that the technology was passed down through thousands of generations.

According to Prof David Braun, of George Washington University, in Washington DC, who led the research, this find, published in the journal Nature Communications, provides incredibly strong evidence for a radical shake-up in our understanding of human evolution.