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Whale Bone Tools 15,000 Years Older Than Originally Thought

  • Editor OGN Daily
  • Jun 1
  • 2 min read

Scientists have pinpointed the oldest known evidence of humans making tools from whale bone.


Whale bone crafted into a sharp object around 20,000 years ago
Credit: Alexandre Lefebvre via AP

The bones, fashioned into narrow projectiles for hunting, had been uncovered in excavations dating back over a century in the Bay of Biscay, straddling both Spain and France.


However, scientists incorrectly determined their age to around 5,000 years old, but recent advances in technology have now made it possible to date the oldest of the tools to about 20,000 years ago; with the bones coming from blue whales, fin whales, sperm whales and other species. This attests to the richness of the marine ecosystem of the Bay of Biscay in the late Paleolithic, and broadens our understanding of coastal adaptations at that time.


Scientists think that ancient humans were crafting whale bone instruments in places including the Arctic and South Pacific. There’s been solid evidence of whale bone tools dating back to about 5,000 years ago, but the new research published in the journal Nature Communications pushes the timeline back.


“Humans and whales have clearly been encountering one another for a long time,” said Vicki Szabo with Western Carolina University, who studies the history of whaling.


Ancient humans weren’t necessarily hunting whales, said study author Jean-Marc Petillon with the French National Centre for Scientific Research. More likely, they were scavenging the bodies of beached whales and fashioning their dense, heavy bones into tools to hunt reindeer or bison.



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