The Origin of Hominin Stone Tool Production

The Origin of Hominin Stone Tool Production Please join Sociology and Anthropology Department and their guest Dr. Metin Eren from Kent State for a discussion of an exciting new hypothesis. How and why did early hominin ancestors start making stone tools, arguably the origin of all modern human technology? This origin has usually been proposed as a "Eureka" moment whereby hominins made a stone tool by accident or intention and then looked for something to cut. However, the latter scenario makes little evolutionary sense because if there is no selective pressure to cut in the first place, it is unlikely hominins would make stone tools to do so. In this talk, Kent State's Professor Metin Eren details his recently published "Naturalith hypothesis." He and 23 other scholars propose that cutting preceded stone tool making, explain how this may have occurred, and how the hypothesis can be supported by future fieldwork.