Nearly 2 million years ago, early humans were systematically butchering elephants, marking the earliest known evidence of proboscidean butchery, according to a study published in the journal eLife. The findings from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania suggest this practice was a strategic adaptation to megafaunal resources, providing a crucial advantage for the survival and development of early hominin groups.
The research focused on stone tools found alongside the bones of Elephas recki, an extinct elephant species, dating back to the early Pleistocene epoch, approximately 1.8 million years ago. While evidence of humans hunting large animals exists from later periods, this discovery indicates a more deliberate and systematic processing of elephant carcasses than previously understood.
"The food surplus generated by the exploitation of some of these animals would have been a significant advantage for the survival and adaptation of the hominin groups," the study states. This reliance on large animals like elephants for sustenance represents a unique evolutionary trajectory, distinct from opportunistic scavenging and hinting at significant ecological and technological transformations among early human ancestors.
This shift in behavior is associated with the emergence of larger and more complex occupation sites, signaling a profound change in early human subsistence strategies and social organization. The exploitation of these large animals likely contributed to a food surplus, which in turn would have supported the growth and complexity of early human societies.