Human ancestors were making ‘bone tech’ 1.5 million years ago, say scientists.

A bone tool made from a 1.5-million-year-old elephant bone discovered at the Olduvai Gorge site in Tanzania is seen in this picture released on March 5, 2025. Pleistocene Archaeology Lab/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Our ancestors were making tools out of bones 1.5 million years ago, winding back the clock for this important moment in human evolution by more than a million years, a study said.

Ancient humans – also called hominins – such as the robust Australopithecus are known to have used fragments of bones to dig up tubers from termite mounds.