New research has revealed that the early humans quarried metamorphic rock as far back as 220,000 years ago. A revolutionary study in Nature Communications uncovers that early humans in South Africa were involved in organised stone quarrying as long ago as 220,000 years. At the Jojosi site, located in eastern South Africa, an international team of researchers found evidence indicating that these ancient people actively sought out specific raw materials. This finding challenges the long-standing model of ‘embedded procurement,’ which claimed early humans only collected stones opportunistically during hunting or gathering activities.
Instead, they made purposeful and repeated visits to certain places just to obtain high-quality hornfels. This pushes back the timeline for complex planning and shows Middle Pleistocene humans had an advanced grasp of their surroundings and managed resources over the long term. They passed this knowledge through generations. This deliberate resource management underscores a sophisticated cognitive shift, proving that prehistoric communities possessed strategic foresight and intricate social structures.
