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1、ScientistsworkinginthedesertbadlandsofnorthwesternKenyahavefoundstonetoolsdatingback3.3millionyears,longbeforetheadvent1ofmodernhumans,andbyfartheoldestsuchartifactsyetdiscovered.Thetools,whosemakers2mayormaynothavebeensomesortofhumanancestor,pushtheknowndateofsuchtoolsbackby
2、700,000years;theyalsomaychallengethenotionthatourownmostdirectancestorswerethefirsttobangtworockstogethertocreateanewtechnology.Thediscoveryisthefirstevideneethatanevenearliergroupofproto-humansmayhavehadthethinkingabilitiesneededtofigureouthowtomakesharp-edgedtools.Thestonet
3、oolsmark”anewbeginningtotheknownarchaeologicalrecordsaytheauthorsofanewpaperaboutthediscovery,publishedtodayintheleadingscientificjournalNature."Thewholesite'ssurprising,itjustrewritesthebookonalotofthingsthatwethoughtweretrue,"saidgeologist3ChrisLepreoftheLamont-DohertyEarth
4、Observatory4andRutgersUniversity,aco-authorofthepaperwhoprecisely5datedtheartifacts.Thetools"shedlightonanunexpectedandpreviously6unknownperiodofhomininbehaviorandcantellusalotaboutcognitive7developmentinourancestorsthatwecan'tunderstandfromfossilsalone,"saidleadauthorSoniaHa
5、rmand,oftheTurkanaBasinInstituteatStony8Brook9UniversityandtheUniversite?ParisQuestNanterre.Homininsareagroupofspeciesthatineludesmodernhumans,Homosapiens,andourclosestevolutionary10ancestors.AnthropologistslongthoughtthatourrelativesinthegenusHomo・thelineleadingdirectlytoHom
6、osapiens・werethefirsttocraftsuchstonetools・Butresearchershavebeenuncoveringtantalizingl1cluesthatsomeother,earlierspeciesofhominin,distantcousins,ifyouwill,mighthavefigureditout.Theresearchersdonotknowwhomadetheseoldestoftools.Butearlierfindssuggestapossibleanswer:Theskull12o
7、fa3.3-million-year-oldhominin,Kenyanthropusplatytops,wasfoundin1999aboutakilometerfromthetoolsite.AK.platyopstoothandabonefromaskullwerediscoveredafewhundredmetersaway,andanas-yetunidentifiedtoothhasbeenfoundabout100metersaway.Theprecisefamilytreeofmodernhumansiscontentious13
8、,andsofar,nooneknowsexactlyhowKplatyopsrelatestootherhomininspecies.
