Researchers from UCL and the Natural History Museum in London have announced the discovery of an elephant bone tool dating back nearly 500,000 years, found at the Boxgrove archaeological site in West Sussex, England. The artifact represents the oldest known elephant bone tool ever identified in Europe and provides significant evidence of the technical sophistication of early human ancestors, likely belonging to early neanderthals or Homo heidelbergensis.
The fossilized object measures approximately 11 centimeters long and features a roughly triangular shape. Analysis using 3D scanning technology and electron microscopes revealed distinctive notches, impact damage, and flint fragments lodged within the marks, indicating the bone had been repeatedly struck against stone implements. Rather than functioning as a heavy hammer, the tool served as a specialized “retoucher” used to reshape and maintain worn stone handaxes and cutting implements through a technique known as knapping. Because bone is softer than stone, it allowed prehistoric toolmakers to work with greater precision without causing excessive damage to their implements.
The deliberate selection and shaping of elephant bone highlights the resourcefulness of these ancient peoples. Elephants and mammoths were not common in prehistoric southern England, making their bones a rare resource. The decision to collect, preserve, and shape such material demonstrates an advanced understanding of available resources and their practical applications. The tool’s use on multiple occasions to maintain other implements suggests a complex level of technological thinking and planning.
Previously, elephant bone tools had been discovered at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania dating back 1.5 million years, but such tools remained exceptionally rare in Europe. Before this discovery, no European elephant bone tool was known to be older than approximately 450,000 years, and most of those were found in warmer southern regions. The Boxgrove artifact therefore extends both the chronological record and geographical range of elephant bone technology in Europe, revealing that early humans in Britain were engaged in sophisticated toolmaking practices hundreds of thousands of years ago. The findings were published in Science Advances.
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