Stone tool discovery pushes back dawn of culture by 700,000 years

Finding overturns idea that tool-making ability was unique to our own ancestors and is hailed as a "new beginning to the known archaeological record"

The oldest known stone tools, dating to long before the emergence of modern humans, have been discovered in Africa.

The roughly-hewn stones, which are around 3.3 million years old, have been hailed by scientists as a "new beginning to the known archaeological record" and push back the dawn of culture by 700,000 years.

Related: Skull of Homo erectus throws story of human evolution into disarray