Andrew Peach

Researchers have found that primitive humans who lived millions of years ago used stone tools continuously for 300,000 years, as our science correspondent Pallab Ghosh told me.

These tools were state-of-the-art devices.

They were specifically made, sought out and sharpened.

They were so sharp that the scientists who discovered them cut their fingers on some of them by mistake.

And so this discovery, this is not the first time that stone tools this age has been found.

But the remarkable thing is that by examining different archaeological layers...

they found that they've been used continuously for 300,000 years.

So that's thousands of generations.

Now, what this means is that previously, we thought that our ancient ancestors, there was some genius that came up with the idea of using stone tools, and it was quickly forgotten in a generation.

The fact that it was passed down through so many generations,

meant that it was a skill that was either learnt or observed, which changes the whole nature of our species.

The fact that we were innovators, as you said, right from the very beginnings, because these were very 2.75 million years ago.

These were tiny brained creatures, the very first humans.

But what they must have been doing is either training each other how to do this, training members of their family or people around them, or at the very least observing what was going on with other people in order for it to have this continuous line.

And that is a sign of an advanced species.

So these people, as I was saying, were a little different to chimpanzees who also used tools, but for some reason didn't.

didn't develop a way of creating sharp tools and using them.

So these tools enabled these humans to survive because the geological survey also shows that the climate varied wildly at the beginning of that 2.75 million years.

It was lovely.

It was green and moist and