AUSTRALIA

Around the World March 1, 2011

In a rock shelter archaeologists discovered the world's oldest known ground-edge tool, a basalt axe from 35,000 years ago.
SHARE:

AUSTRALIA: Grinding the edge of a stone tool can make it sharper and last longer. In a rock shelter archaeologists discovered the world's oldest known ground-edge tool, a basalt axe from 35,000 years ago. It predates the next oldest examples by at least a few thousand years and promises new insights into the evolution of human behavior and technological advancement.

  • Features January/February 2025

    Dancing Days of the Maya

    In the mountains of Guatemala, murals depict elaborate performances combining Catholic and Indigenous traditions

    Read Article
    Photograph by R. Słaboński
  • Features November/December 2024

    Let the Games Begin

    How gladiators in ancient Anatolia lived to entertain the masses

    Read Article
    © Tolga İldun
  • Features November/December 2024

    The Many Faces of the Kingdom of Shu

    Thousands of fantastical bronzes are beginning to reveal the secrets of a legendary Chinese dynasty

    Read Article
    Courtesy Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
  • Features September/October 2024

    Ancient DNA Revolution

    How the rapidly evolving field of archaeogenetics is unlocking secrets of the past

    Read Article
    Great Rift Valley, Ethiopia
    AdobeStock/lucaar