The bone tools date from more than a million years before our species, Homo sapiens, arose around 300,000 years ago.

A cache of 1.5 million-year-old bone tools uncovered in Tanzania suggest ancient human ancestors were capable of critical thinking and advanced craftsmanship.

An assemblage of tools found in Tanzania that was fashioned about 1.5 million years ago from the limb bones of elephants and hippos reveals what scientists are calling a technological breakthrough for the human evolutionary lineage - systematic production of implements made from a material other than stone.

Deep in a trench in Tanzania, researchers found dozens of tools crafted from animal bones some 1.5 million years old.