Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • Educational Assets
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

World’s Oldest Ground-edge Implement Discovered

By R&D Editors | November 8, 2010

World’s Oldest Ground-edge Implement Discovered 

Ground-edge implement
Nawarla Gabarnmang is the archaeological site in Jawoyn country from which the 35,000 year old piece of ground-edge axe was found.

  Courtesy of Bruno David

The oldest ground-edge stone tool in the world has been discovered in northern Australia by a Monash University researcher and a team of international experts. Evidence for stone tool-use among our earliest hominid ancestors dates to 3.4 million years ago, however, the first use of grinding to sharpen stone tool edges such as axes is clearly associated with modern humans, otherwise known as Homo sapiens sapiens.

Monash University archaeologist and member of the team who made the discovery, Bruno David said while there have been reports of much older axes being found in New Guinea, the implements were not ground. “This suggests that axe technology evolved into the later use of grinding for the sharper, more symmetrical and maintainable edges this generates,” said David. “The ground-axe fragment is dated to 35,000 years ago, which pre-dates the oldest examples of ground-edge implements dated to 22,000-30,000 years ago from Japan and Northern Australia.”

Archaeological excavations undertaken in May 2010 at Nawarla Gabarnmang in northern Australia uncovered the artifact. Nawarla Gabarnmang is a large rock-shelter in Jawoyn Aboriginal country in southwestern Arnhem Land. The discovery of the rock-shelter was made by Ray Whear and Chris Morgan from the Jawoyn Association while flying by helicopter on June 15, 2006.

The discovery of the axe was made by a team of researchers including Jean-Michel Geneste from the Centre National de Prehistoire of the Ministry of Culture in France, Hugues Plisson from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique at the University of Bordeaux in France, Christopher Clarkson from the University of Queensland, Jean-Jacques Delannoy from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique at the University de Savoie in France and Fiona Petchey from the University of Waikato in New Zealand.

“Axes fulfilled a unique position within the Aboriginal toolkit as long use-life chopping tools, were labor intensive to manufacture and highly valued,” said Dr. David. “During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, axes were understood by local Aboriginal communities to carry with them the ancestral forces which characterized the particular quarry from which they came… Their trade across the landscape moved not just the tool itself, but more importantly the symbolic and ancestral forces of their point of origin. The Nawarla Gabarnmang axe, found some 40km from its source, is evidence of 35,000 years of the movement of tools, technologies and ideas across the northern Australian landscape… This new evidence for the earliest securely dated ground-edge implement in the world indicates that Australia was an important locale of technological innovation 35,000 years ago… This discovery will assist researchers in Australia and around the world as we examine the evolution of human behavior and the earliest technological advancements.”

Related Articles Read More >

Microsoft’s 4D geometric codes slash quantum errors by 1,000x
Berkeley Lab’s Dell and NVIDIA-powered ‘Doudna’ supercomputer to enable real-time data access for 11,000 researchers
QED-C outlines road map for merging quantum and AI
Quantum computing hardware advance slashes superinductor capacitance >60%, cutting substrate loss
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • Educational Assets
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE