SEATTLE, WASHINGTON—According to a New Scientist report, new dates have been obtained for stone tools made with Levallois techniques that were discovered in a cave in south China some 40 years ago. Made by chipping flakes off a stone so that the flakes themselves become the tools, Levallois tools are considered to be a “middle stage” in the development of stone tool technology. Such tools appeared in Africa and western Eurasia about 300,000 years ago. It had been previously thought that they were not made in China until about 40,000 years ago, but Bo Li of the University of Wollongong said the Levallois cores uncovered in Guanyindong Cave were recently dated to between 170,000 and 160,000 years ago with optically stimulated luminescence. No bones were found in the cave, however, so scientists do not know which early human species might have crafted the tools. For more, go to “An Opportunity for Early Humans in China.”
