Half‑Million‑Year‑Old Elephant Bone Hammer Unveils Early European Craftsmanship
Archaeologists describe a 500,000-year-old hammer carved from elephant bone found at Boxgrove, the oldest elephant bone tool in Europe and likely made by Neanderthals or Homo heidelbergensis; about 11 cm by 6 cm by 3 cm, it shows shaping marks and contains embedded flint fragments, indicating it was used as a soft hammer to knap stone and revealing sophisticated toolcraft in early Europeans.