A group of leading researchers from Canada and Tanzania, working with partners in Africa, North America, and Europe, has published a study on population activity in Tanzania dating back two million years.
The team collaborated to study and highlight a large collection of stone tools, fossil bones, and genetic traces recovered from dental remains and plant residues. The researchers examined small microscopic pieces of silica left by ancient plants, pollen, and airborne charcoal from natural fires recovered from ancient riverbeds and lake outcrops in the Seronera region of Tanzania.
The human activity dates back two million years. The scientists stated that the data they collected provides the first evidence of human activity in Alufai Bay, dating back approximately two million years. They emphasized in their study that this research is a significant step in bridging the gap between fossils and the environmental context, as well as the cultural elements left by extinct humans in the region. Stone artifacts discovered at the site belong to a cultural classification identified by archaeologists as the "Lowdown" culture. This discovery shows that ancient humans were using stone tools millions of years ago.
The findings revealed that both stone tools and animal fossils indicated that humans and animals gathered around water sources. The study found that early humans carried stones used as tools from distant sources within a basin at a distance of up to 12 kilometers to the east.
According to the study, these ancient humans exhibited resilience in surviving changing environments. Research indicated that humans continued to come to Alufai Bay to utilize local resources for over 200,000 years, despite significant and rapid changes in the region's natural terrain. Notably, the discovered artifacts at the site date back to the early Pleistocene, around two million years ago.
The researchers noted that it is not clear which human species produced those tools exactly, as no fossils of human ancestors were discovered in the study. However, more recent deposits found at a site 350 meters away contained Homo habilis fossils.
