“Toth has experimentally replicated thousands of Oldowan artifact forms using the same raw materials as Oldowan knappers and have used these for a wide range of functional experiments (Toth 109)”. Using the experiments he conducted and the having actual tools that were used by the knappers we can almost be certain of what they were used for. For instance we think that flakes are crucial for cutting open and butchering animals. Flakes seem like they are one of the more important tools the Oldowan knappers used to survive. Oldowan tools are the oldest known tools that where created by hominids now let’s look into other species and compare these tools and the tools other primates and creatures use. “Chimpanzees our closest living relatives, have been observed to use tools in over 25 different contexts notably (Pruetz 412)”. Only two of the tools are used to assist with hunting, and these tools are rocks to smash open nuts and fashion tools to collect insects. Oldowan tools where crafted and formed using multiple steps and they used the tools as blades which chimpanzees do …show more content…
We know the chimpanzees are using wooden spears and we know that the oldest organic weapon is 400,000 years old. This weapon is a wooden spear similar to the spears that chimpanzees use today. What makes them really different is that hominids used stone tools as weapons and probably alongside wooden tools even though there is no evidence. “Generally, ape tool use in the wild occurs within a foraging context and is largely restricted to processing vegetable matter or invertebrates (Pruetz 412)”, this is where chimpanzees use a grinding method similar to the method of Oldowan tools to make consuming the food easier. We still use this method today for grinding up hard to digest foods or salts, so we have carried this technology for