Recent Discovery of Double-Edged Hand Axes in Europe Could be up to 900,000 Years Old

 

Oldest Old World Tools

A collection of prehistoric stone hand axes appears above. When first discovered, most researchers thought that the hand axes were made between 500,000 and 200,000 years ago. However, a new study contends that they are in fact much older -- possibly the oldest hand axes in Europe.Michael Walker

Sophisticated hand made tools have finally been found in Europe that demonstrate similarly refined skill sets demonstrated by Acheulian tool making methods found in Africa that have been dated to approximately 1.5 million years ago. Previously, such tools that had been discovered in Europe were shown  to have originated from the hands of European tool makers only some 300,000 million years ago. For years, researchers who had been baffled by the gap between the African and European tools now have a better understanding of the varied techniques of tool making that had actually existed.

The hand axes that have resolved the tool gap were found in a part of Granada, Spain; specifically in the Quipar Valley, in cave sediment and were "made using the so-called Levallois technique of shaping stone, known to have existed in Europe only about 300,000 years ago."

Two researchers, geologist Gary Scott and paleontologist Luis Gibert, from the Berkeley Geochronology Center in California used palaeomagnetic analysis, "which uses known changes in the orientation of Earth's magnetic field over time."Palaeomagnetic analysis is based on Magnetostratigraphy, which deciphers the periodic reversal of Earth's magnetic field.

"The transition from primitive chopper-like tools to more finely crafted double-faced axes marked a milestone in the history of technology," The Straits Times, A Singapore Press Holdings Website conjectured, "and gave those whose wielded them an edge in the struggle to survive."

Physorg.com, a website involved with science news and analysis agrees with The Straits Times assessment by adding: "The transition from primitive chopper-like tools to more finely crafted double-faced axes marked a milestone in the history of technology, and gave those whose wielded them an edge in the struggle to survive." 

Acting like tiny compasses, fine-grained magnetic minerals in the tools contain a record of the polarity at the time they were used. Once buried in sediment, the polarity is preserved.

'The age (of the axes) must be Early Pleistocene, the most recent period dominated by reverse polarity, 1.78-to-0.78 million years ago,' the researchers concluded.

The new dating suggests that early man was present in south-western Europe for much of this period, and that the barrier between Africa and Europe was more permeable than once thought, they said.

"Dr. Gibert said the finding, The New York Times explains, "adds to mounting evidence that early humans migrated to Europe from Africa earlier than previously thought."

"The question is, which route did they follow?" Gilbert said. "Rather than coming through the Middle East and then westward, Dr. Gibert said he is convinced they came across at Gibraltar. "We think the Gibraltar straits were a permeable barrier," he said. "It's a provocative interpretation but I think there is enough information to support it."

"Up to now, no one imagined this level of tool-making was going on in Europe about a million years ago," says Michael Walker, an archaeologist at the University of Murcia who has studied the region near Granada where the axes were found."

The journal Nature explains: "Homo neanderthalensis, Homo erectus and Homo heidelbergensis are all species known to be associated with Acheulian axes, which have two-sided cutting faces that were made of many types of stone for still-unconfirmed uses"

 

Michael Walker explains that the The Quípar Valley cave hand-axe is the oldest dated in Europe.

The two small hand axes have been estimated to be "at least 760,000 and 900,000 years old, respectively," in analysis conducted by Scott and Gilbert."If confirmed, the new dates support the idea that the manufacture and use of teardrop-shaped stone implements, known as hand axes, spread rapidly from Africa into Europe and Asia beginning roughly 1 million years ago, said Scott and Gibert.

An early assessment of the hand axe findings by: "Thomas Wynn, a cognitive evolutionary biologist from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, says: "This [find] tells us some things about these early humans' brains, like the development of spatial conception. But not much, as cognitive ability changes very, very slowly."

References

   1. Scott, G. R. & Gibert, L. Nature 461, 82-85 (2009). | Article | PubMed
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Living Without God: European Lives and the Dissolution of Religion from Ferverent Practice to Benign Tradition

First, let me make clear; it seems like a very safe and uncontroversial statement to make when one observes that religion is a very large and powerful force in the contemporary world. The growth of Islam and its connections to militaristic terrorism are certainly a daily headline for people living all around the globe. It seems that Islam is leading a upsurge in religious belief for many inhabitants of our planet today.

But close behind by only a few steps are the advancements Christianity is making globally as it wages its own drive to recruit believers under its set of beliefs and practices. Evangelicalism is sweeping its way into the hearts and minds of millions while other Christian religions such as Pentecostalism are also rapidly expanding. There is little doubt that organized religious beliefs are bubbling throughout the world.

Of course, religion is very popular in the United States where church attendance and responses to polls that question people's religious beliefs make the world's most powerful democracy a haven for believers. Americans as a whole hold God, Jesus, and the Bible in the highest regard. In addition, television and radio stations provide their viewers and listeners with unequaled access to Christian perspectives on a daily basis. And both Democrats and Republicans try to outdo each other over their support for 'Christian values.' The presidency of George W. Bush was extremely receptive to and promoted Christian doctrine as a part of the Republican agenda.

And beyond Islam and Christianity there has also been an uptick in the popularity of other religious belief systems around the world.

The amazing point I am about to make may sound unbelievable but I assure you that it is true. Religion is not all powerful in all nations of the world. In fact there are some nations, notably in Europe where religion is not viewed with the fervor that it is across the rest of the world. Which nations in Europe am I speaking of? First let me say that all across Europe, with particular reference to Great Britain and the Netherlands there has been a trending down in religious beliefs but it is in the Scandinavian countries that has witnessed the greatest decline in the popularity of religion. And the least religious countries in the world are Denmark and Sweden.

In Denmark and Sweden which is made up of lovely small towns, clean cities, magnificent forests, isolated beachfront, vibrant democracies, among the lowest crime rates in the world, superb institutions of public education, beautiful architecture, strong economies, publicly supported art, widespread entrepreneurship, modern hospitals, fabulous beer, free health care, extraordinary filmmakers, egalitarian social policies, and little interest in religion.

The Danes and the Swedes have proven that a society can exist without God and be very civil and pleasant. So there goes the Christians argument that without God we would all be subject to chaos and the Devil would rule the Earth.

It proves that a society without God can establish and follow rational systems of ethics and morality. Also proven has been the ability of secularists to live their lives without the 'crutch' that religion provides concerning death because many have argued that religion exists as a way for humanity to cope with death. Others have convinced themselves that they follow religion and believe in God because He has a 'plan' that governs the universe and that 'plan' also provides answers that allows human beings to understand the nature of the universe.

So why are Denmark and Sweden the less religious democracies in the world and the United States ranks number one? Several possible factors contribute in part or in whole to answering this question. History has certainly played a role ; the Danes and Swedes had Christianity imposed on their nations by rulers while the United States had a number of Christian groups initially settle throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. Immigration has also played a role as America became the home to numerous religious groups over time while Sweden and Denmark were two of the most homogeneously peopled nations in the world. Also, a high degree of racial, ethnic, class, and cultural diversity exists in the United States while Denmark and Sweden are quite homogeneous in these areas. Denmark and Sweden have a national church, the Lutheran Church while diversity of churches is the rule in America. Another factor simply has to do with marketing; Americans market their religious beliefs very aggressively because of their great diverse numbers while the Danes and Swedes do not because they only have one church that is a monopoly and state controlled. A final factor unfortunately concerns the high levels of poor and under educated people who live in America and are highly susceptible to the promises made by religion of a better hereafter; this situation does not exist in Denmark and Sweden because the population as a whole is far better educated and per capita income levels are higher.

French Government Reports Raise Concerns of the ‘Rebirth of the Violent Left’

Jason Burke, Paris correspondent for The Observer at the website, guardian.co.uk, reports that:” The French government fears a wave of extreme left-wing terrorism this year with the possible sabotage of key infrastructure, kidnappings of major business figures or even bomb attacks. Secret French government reports, seen by the Observer, describe an "elevated threat" from an "international European network ... with a strong presence in France" after the radicalisation of "a new generation of activists" in recent years. Senior analysts and experts linked to the government have drawn parallels with the Action Directe group, which carried out 50 or more attacks in the early 1980s. Others cite the example of the Baader-Meinhof gang. A report by the French domestic intelligence service talks of "a rebirth of the violent extreme left" across Europe that is likely to be aggravated by the effects of the economic crisis. Other secret documents expose alleged links with activists in Italy, Greece, Germany and the UK. "It has been growing for three or four years now and the violence is getting closer and closer to real terrorism," said Eric Dénécé, director of the French centre of intelligence research and a former Defence Ministry consultant.” While the truth of the French government reports are questioned by several experts; the outbreak of severe violence in Athens recently adds an air of concern for many Europeans that “angry and alienated young people and a hard core of violent left-wing extremists” could result in numerous outbreaks of violence across the European continent. Recent appearances of posters in Paris have urged youth who are "forced to work for a world that poisons us" to follow the example of their Greek counterparts. "The insurrection goes on. If it takes hold everywhere, no one can stop it," the posters urged. The surge in the recruitment of mostly middle class youth, creating an upsurge of activism is most often blamed on “changes in employment law in 2006... Gilles Gray, assistant director of economic protection of the French domestic intelligence service, spoke recently of "a philosophy that was spreading in Europe.” That justifies terrorism. So far, the formation of violent groups and organized illegal activities have centered in Greece, France, and Germany. “But some accuse France's right-wing government of both exaggerating and exploiting the left-wing threat. "They are turning my son into a scapegoat for a generation who have started to think for themselves about capitalism and its wrongs and to demonstrate against the government," said Gérard Coupat, father of the alleged ringleader of one of the French youth groups. Mr. Coupat continued: "The government is keeping my son in prison because a man of the left with the courage to demonstrate is the last thing they want now, with the economic situation getting worse and worse. Nothing like this has happened in France since the war. It is very serious." For those who feel the French government is overreacting such as: “Author and researcher Christophe Bourseiller told the Observer the threat was being exaggerated. "Yes, there is a certain renewed level of agitation, but there is a huge difference between deliberately slowing down a few trains without injuring anyone and something like the Madrid bomb blasts," he said. Mr. Bourseiller continued:"The Ministry of the Interior has made it look like (they have) halted a serious campaign of violence with a huge, huge media operation." In addition to the real or contrived violence posed by youth groups: “Trade unions have promised a series of mass stoppages in the coming months. Among a population already made bitter by static salaries, rising prices and structurally high levels of unemployment, the lay-offs and wage cuts that could result from the economic crisis will fuel anger.” So governments across Europe are on alert because “...there are other groups in France, in Italy, in Germany, which, having lost faith in a political left in disarray, are tempted by violent action and are in a phase of semi-clandestinity," Alain Bauer, a criminologist at the Sorbonne, told the Observer. "With Action Directe and the Red Brigades, there was a first intellectual phase, followed by a radicalisation and then a transition to physical action.”