BC Researchers: Human Brain’s Estimated Initial Development Date Shifts by 80,000 Years.

The Gademotta Formation is a site in the main Ethiopian Rift Valley that houses Middle Stone Age archaeological sites. It is known to be over 279,000 years old, and on its grounds have been found stone tipped throwing spears that have been studied and known to predate known homo sapiens fossils. These javelin shaped obsidian projectiles were possibly used as objects that were either thrown or used as a hand tool. This research provides evidence of complex technology that was used before the rise of homo sapiens.

Several other sites associated with homonid origins have been found by researchers at the Gademotta Formation. Karl Hutchings, an assistant professor of sociology and anthropology at Thomson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C. is one of the few professors interested in expanding on this type of research. Hutchings used sound waves and measurements to find more about how the stones broke, what purpose they had, and how they were made. More than 200 of these projectiles were initially found in the excavated ridge.

This shift of 80,000 years of time may seem brief in the grander scheme of things, but some anthropologists and archaeologists believe it is indicative of how much earlier our ancestors begin to develop brains that made use of complex critical thinking skills that first made the use of stone tools possible. Up until recently, it had been commonly believed that 200,000 years was the approximate period of time that modern complex thought became possible. This research makes it possible to move that timeline back a bit to 280,000 years. Hutchings is hesitant to jump to any conclusions without further research, but is anxious and excited to return to Ethiopia to conduct further research on his findings, reasoning that if we can better understand our place in the cosmos, we can better understand ourselves.