Ancient human technology changed drastically when they replaced H. erectus in Tanzania between 1.5 and 1.5 million years ago: Discovery of bone artefacts and antimicrobial peptides could protect against infection

Locating objects is easier when they are in carefully excavated trenches. The latest findings are based on digs at Olduvai conducted between 2015 and 2022. Researchers spent several field seasons excavating trenches to study how technology changed when H. erectus — a small-brained predecessor to species including modern humans and Neanderthals — replaced H. habilis in the region, somewhere between 1.8 and 1.5 million years ago.

A 1.5-million-year-old cache of animal-bone tools reveals that ancient humans systematically crafted with this material much earlier than previously thought. Researchers uncovered 27 bone artefacts in Tanzania honed into sharp tools almost 40 cm long. This discovery pushes back the dedicated manufacture of bone tools by around a million years and could have helped these early humans develop new kinds of technology. The author of the study says that they raised a lot of interesting questions.

Evidence suggests deliberate production of bone tools happened much earlier than previously thought — plus, how cells’ waste-disposal systems could help defend against infection.

To help protect against infection, cells in the body will selectively cut proteins to produce molecules known as antimicrobial peptides, according to new research. A team has shown that cells shift activity of the proteasome, a waste-disposal system, if certain peptides are locked up within proteins. One of these molecules showed efficacy in protecting mice from infection, suggesting that one day they could be used for therapeutic purposes.

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