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    Short WaveStone Age To Bone Age?
    8 minEpisode 1234

    Stone Age To Bone Age?

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    Archeologists know early humans used stone to make tools long before the time of Homo sapiens. But a new discovery out this week in Nature suggests early humans in eastern Africa were also using animal bones – one million years earlier than researchers previously thought. The finding suggests that these early humans were intentionally shaping animal materials – like elephant and hippopotamus bones – to make tools and that it could indicate advancements in early human cognition.

    Want more on early human history? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

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    © NPRLength 8 min7 March 2025Episode 1234ScienceFactsEducationalUSAEpisodic

    Introducing Short Wave

    Introducing Short Wave

    This is an episodic podcast, so you can listen to it in any order, but episode one is a great place to start.

    Listen to episode one here
    11+ScienceFactsEducationalUSAEpisodic7 March 2025© NPR

    Archeologists know early humans used stone to make tools long before the time of Homo sapiens. But a new discovery out this week in Nature suggests early humans in eastern Africa were also using animal bones – one million years earlier than researchers previously thought. The finding suggests that these early humans were intentionally shaping animal materials – like elephant and hippopotamus bones – to make tools and that it could indicate advancements in early human cognition.

    Want more on early human history? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

    Listen to Short Wave on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

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