Axe fragment found in Australia 'world's oldest'

https://www.yahoo.com/news/axe-fragment-found-australia-worlds-oldest-033110746.html?nhp=1

Sydney (AFP) - A rock flake found in Australia is believed to be from the world's oldest known axe and likely dates from just after humans arrived in the country around 50,000 years ago, scientists said Wednesday.

The fragment, about the size of a thumbnail, was found in Western Australia's sparsely populated Kimberley region and its age indicates that early indigenous technology was novel and inventive.

"This is without doubt the oldest axe in the world," Peter Hiscock, the University of Sydney academic who analysed the fragment, told AFP.

The piece was excavated in the 1990s, but it was not until recently that its significance was recognised and confirmed by new technology.

"It's a relatively small fragment, it's not much more than a centimetre (half an inch) long," said Hiscock, who used a digital microscope to analyse the piece and determine it was man-made.

"It's one flake off the edge of a polished axe or a ground-edge axe."

The fragment has been dated at between 46,000 and 49,000 years old. Humans are thought to have arrived in Australia around 50,000 years ago.