Ancient tools show how humans adapted to rainforests

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At a jungle-covered cave site in Sri Lanka, archaeologists have found a remarkable collection of ancient objects, including tools that they believe are among the oldest survival gear humans used in rainforests.

The artifacts range in age from 48,000 to 4,000 years old and include 130 bone arrow tips—the oldest arrow tips found outside of Africa—as well as 29 bone tools for making bags or clothing and a handful of ornamental beads.

Archaeologists discovered the objects as they excavated the cave and believe they correspond to four distinct phases of human habitation of the site, with arrowheads and awl-like tools first appearing in the earliest phase.

Homo sapiens encountered and adapted to many challenging environments. When humans migrated into South Asia, they encountered yet another intimidating new habitat: the tropical rainforest, where dense vegetation, elusive prey, insects and predators made it challenging for humans to survive.

The new environment would have required some important innovations. “In the plains, people were hunting big animals living in large groups that were easy to spot and target,” Langley says. ”A spear isn’t particularly useful in a tropical forest, you need something that’s swift and that can go high, like bows and arrows.” 

Some of the bone tools appear to have served other purposes. “One flattened piece of bone looks quite like a net shuttle, the kind of tool people use when making or fixing a net,” Langley says, which would have been useful along the inland rivers as well as on the coasts. Other tools look like they were used to work leather and plant fiber, possibly into bags or clothes. 

 

Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/06/tools-human-early-migration-rainforest-sri-lanka/