Recently Discovered 500,000-Year-Old Ancient Stone 'Swiss Army Knife' Reveals The Early Man's Taste For Animal Meat

A team of scientists has unearthed the mystery behind the primitive hunting tool used by the prehistoric man called “Swiss Army knife.” The tools were discovered in 2003 at Revadim in Israel, next to the remains of the slaughtered animals.

The latest findings and research are speculated to uncover the eating and hunting habits of human ancestors.

A team of archaeologists headed by Professor Ran Barkai from the Tel Aviv University, Israel, studied and analysed the surface and edges of different tools, including scrapers and hand axes, using use-wear analysis and Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) residue analysis. FTIR makes use of infrared radiation to identify traces of organic compounds from the ancient times.

After thorough study, the researchers found that the tools were loaded with residue of animal fat and that prehistoric man used to hunt the animals using these flint tools.

The researchers further duplicated the flint tools and compared them with their prehistoric counterparts. This revealed that the handaxe was used as a Swiss army knife to break down and cut animal bones and hide, while the scraper was utilised by the prehistoric man to separate animal fat, muscle and fur.

"There are three parts to this puzzle: the expansion of the human brain, the shift to meat consumption, and the ability to develop sophisticated technology to meet the new biological demands. The invention of stone technology was a major breakthrough in human evolution," said Barkai, in a news report.

The research has been published in the journal PLOS One.

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