Turkey’s oldest stone tool dates back 1.2 million years

A stone tool found in Turkey has been dated back 1.2 million years, making it the oldest stone tool found in the country.

The researchers used high-precision radioisotopic dating and palaeomagnetic measurements from lava flows, which both pre-date and post-date the meander, to establish that early humans were present in the area between approximately 1.24 million and 1.17 million years ago. Previously, the oldest hominin fossils in western Turkey were recovered in 2007 at Koçabas, but the dating of these and other stone tool finds were uncertain.

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Story: Royal Holloway, University of London | Photo: University of London