Sue O'Connor, an archaeologist who led the team and a professor of archaeology at the Australian National University, said that the age of this axe can be traced back to 46,000 to 49,000 years ago, about the time when humans first appeared on this continent.
"This is the earliest evidence of the existence of an axe with a handle in the world. There were no axes anywhere else in the world at that time. " O' Connor said in a statement sent to redOrbit. "In Japan, such an axe appeared about 35,000 years ago. But in most countries in the world, it appeared with agriculture after 10 thousand years. "
More advanced technology than previously thought.
O 'Connor said that this discovery shows that the technology of early aborigines is not as elementary as it used to be.
"Australian prehistoric stone tools are usually considered to be characterized by simplicity. However, people found that these Australian axes with handles were earlier than anywhere else in the world, which shows that this is obviously not the case. " She said.
Australian professors noticed that this technology originated in Australia about 50,000 years ago. Before these people came to this continent, axes had nothing to do with them.
"There are no axes on our northern islands. They went to Australia and invented the axe. " She said.
When an axe with a handle was found, Peter Hiscock, a professor of archaeology at the University of Sydney, analyzed some small pieces of it.
"Since there was no ice age axe found in Southeast Asia, this discovery shows us that when humans arrived in Australia, they began to try new technologies and invent new ways to use the resources they obtained." Hiscock said.
"The question of when the axe was invented has been explored for decades before archaeologists discovered it in Australia. Now our findings can answer this question. " He added.
Hiscock also said that axe-making technology may not spread with human migration around the world.
"Axes are only made in the northern tropics," he said. "Northern Australia uses axes, while southern Australia doesn't. This difference can be traced back to the time when humans first colonized and settled in Australia, and lasted for thousands of years. When the axe began to be made in the southern part of most of Australia, it disappeared. "
Tadpole Jun was compiled from redorbit, translated by Lao Liu, and reproduced with authorization.