Discovery shows our knowledge is not set in stone

Find sheds new light on human ancestors

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MAN'S ancestors transported stones over long distances to craft tools 2.6 million years ago - 600,000 years earlier than previously thought.

Stone tools unearthed in Kenya reveal that hominins regularly moved raw materials up to eight miles, say American scientists.

Research shows that ancient humans used an array of stone tools - known collectively as the Oldowan toolkit - to pound plant material and carve up large prey, such as hippopotamuses, in south western Kenya more than 2.6 million years ago.

The "durable and versatile" tools were crafted from special stone materials collected up to eight miles away, according to the new study published in the journal Science Advances.

The international research team say their findings push back the earliest known evidence of ancient humans transporting resources over long distances by some 600,000 years.

Study senior author Dr Rick Potts, of the Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, said: "People often focus on the tools themselves, but the real innovation of the Oldowan may actually be the transport of resources from one place to another.