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Image Credit: NHM Photo Unit
Oldest Elephant Bone Tool in Europe Identified at Prehistoric Site in England
Archaeologists have identified a prehistoric hammer made from elephant bone as the oldest of its kind discovered in Europe, dating to around 500,000 years ago. The tool was found at the well-known site of Boxgrove in West Sussex, southern England, and has been analyzed by researchers from UCL and the Natural History Museum, London.
The hand-held implement was fashioned from dense cortical bone and used as a soft hammer or retoucher—a tool employed to resharpen stone handaxes and other flint tools dulled through repeated use. Surface analysis using 3D scanning and electron microscopy revealed clear impact marks and notches, as well as tiny embedded flint fragments, confirming repeated use in stone-tool maintenance.
Although the bone fragment was excavated in the early 1990s, it was only recently recognized as a tool following detailed reanalysis of material from the site. The bone is too incomplete to identify the exact species, but its thickness indicates it came from an elephant or mammoth.
Measuring roughly 11 cm long, 6 cm wide, and 3 cm thick, the tool was intentionally shaped into a triangular form suitable for precise knapping tasks. Bone tools of this type were valued for their ability to refine stone edges without causing excessive damage—an important advantage over stone hammers.
The find highlights the technological skill and resourcefulness of early human populations in prehistoric Britain, likely Homo heidelbergensis or early Neanderthals. Elephants were rare in the local landscape, suggesting that such bone was a valuable material, selected and curated for repeated use.
While elephant-bone tools are known from much earlier contexts in Africa, examples from Europe are extremely rare at this date. The Boxgrove hammer is currently the earliest known elephant-bone tool in Europe, expanding understanding of early human innovation and material selection during the Middle Pleistocene.
Published on: 21-01-2026
Edited by: Abdulmnam Samakie
Source: Phys.org