An almost black rock that is 8.7 cm by 9.4 com by 6.4 cm almost looks like any other rock.
Louis Leakey, while he was in Tanzania, recognized that it was not just a rock. It was in fact a stone tool made by an early human.
That early human, driven by his or her need to eat, probably made the stone to cut meat or scrape bark from trees. The early human probably took the time to make sure his or her carving of the rock was precise as to have an efficient carving tool. This act of precision shows the very human quality of doing a bit more than is utilitarian, bring forth a new way of making something at the time, using more effort than is needed at the basic level.
Fantastic work on this post... and great insight on the fact that 12,000,000 yrs ago humans began showing ingenuity (i.e., using more effort than is needed at the basic level) ... this is a very important piece as well as the oldest piece in the British Museum...
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