A recent publication by Barkai, R., and Shalata, M., 2026, describes the finding of Acheulean tools crafted by Homo erectus using stones that contained fossils, holes, and geodes, which made them wonder if these hominins were attracted to them for magical reasons, and ask if they were sensible, intelligent, and mystical beings. (Lower Palaeolithic Tools of Potency: Handaxes Shaped around Fossils and Other Extraordinary Features at Sakhnin Valley, Israel. Tel Aviv, 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/03344355.2026.2637187)
The paper's abstract notes that "The handaxes reported here are part of a larger collection of hundreds of tools bearing typical Levantine Lower Palaeolithic Acheulean characteristics. What makes these handaxes particularly noteworthy is that they were shaped around fossil imprints or other geological features embedded in the selected flint nodule.. While thousands of handaxes are documented from Lower Old World Palaeolithic sites, fossil-bearing handaxes are extremely rare and garner special attention. This collection of unique bifaces provides valuable insight into their makers’ technological and aesthetic preferences, worldviews and relationship with stone. We propose that these handaxes served as tools and mediators between humans and the cosmos, conceived as objects of potency enhanced by the primeval fossil imprints and unique geological features within the stone. The richly embellished rocky landscape of Sakhnin Valley, particularly with its abundant geodes, may have encouraged early humans to express their profound and extraordinary relationships with the cosmos via stones."
The authors note that the flint used to make tools was selected by the Homo erectus who lived in this area (500,000 to 200,000 years ago), and they mostly chose flawless stones, however "Only a few handaxes, about one-tenth of those recovered during our survey, exhibit fossil imprints or other geological features. In addition, these features are located at prominent and distinctive spots on the biface, mostly at the centre of one of its faces. It thus appears that the handaxe was shaped around this feature... We therefore assume that flint nodules bearing fossils and geological features attracted the attention of Acheulean knappers and were intentionally collected by humans, who valued these features for one reason or another. Similarly, we suggest that knapping was conducted to position these features prominently, emphasising their visibility when holding or displaying the handaxe." Below are some images of these remarkable tools.
This article suggests that the some aesthetic advances noticed during the Acheulean period, like the use of ochre, and these fossils and geodes deliberately used to make handaxes shows that these ancestral humans were developing and evolving a more advanced cognition. The authors suggest that this change in their intelligence was promoted by a change in their enviornment during this period. After hundreds of millennia of stability, their typical prey, elephants dwindled, and they had to adapt to other megafaunal food sources. Anxiety set in, and they developed a new perspective, where a cosmovision evolved. Rituals, symbolism, and magic developed. Stones had life, they were tools for hunting, and for this reason, shapes and distinctive features would be highly appreciated as they held power, or "mana". Magic could help them hunt better.
The interesting part of this article is that it portrays erectus differently from the usual cold description given by archaeology, which tends to picture them as primitive, brutal, with a limited intellect, thick-skulled, low-foreheaded, semi-human creatures that were static in time: they made the same Acheulean stone tools for 2 million years without developing any new technology. This depiction tends to make us think of them as very dumb creatures. We even doubt if they managed to master the art of fire making or build boats.
When an incised shell was found back in 2014 (see post), reported by a paper published in Nature, that was 430,000 to 540,000-years-old, the only possible crator of the shell engraved with geometric patterns, was the Homo erectus since no other humans lived in that region at that time. This was the first discovery to suggest that symbolic thought, something believed to be unique to modern humans, like us and the Neanderthals, was also shared by our distant and ancient relative, the H. erectus.
I find it relevant because Homo erectus lived for almost 2 million years in Eurasia and Africa, adapting to a changing environment and developing stronger cognitive abilities, while we, the Homo sapiens have only been around for one-seventh of that time (just 300 ky since the first alleged remains of a H. sapiens were discovered in Morocco), and most of that time we weren't as smart as we are now.
As I wrote back in 2014: "A smarter H. erectus is interesting, it means that 500 kya they could have not only engraved mussel shells but also, dealt with the cold Arctic climate and walked across Beringia into the Americas." I still feel the same way. These people were hardy, intelligent, sensitive, and well adapted to their environments, from the cold climate of northern China to the hot tropical jungles of Java, Indonesia. They were survivors.
To be Continued: Homo erectus in Siberia 800 to 400 kya
As we will see in my next posts, there were ancient humans living in Siberia, at sites far north, in the cold regions not far from Beringia, 400 to 800 thousand years ago. Considering the timeline, they were ver probably erectus. These people had the time, the survival abilities, and the intelligence to move east, and may have been able to reach America.
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