New Research

This Hammer Created From an Elephant Bone 480,000 Years Ago May Be the Oldest Known Tool of Its Kind Ever Found in Europe

Discovered in southern England in the mid-1990s, the artifact may have been made by Neanderthals or Homo heidelbergensis, according to a new study

Sarah Kuta | Daily Correspondent

January 26, 2026

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In the mid-1990s, archaeologists unearthed a piece of elephant bone from a site in southern England. It didn’t look like much at the time, so they set it aside in the collection of the Natural History Museum in London.

Now, decades later, scientists have determined the long-overlooked artifact was more than just a bone fragment. Writing in a paper published January 21 in the journal Science Advances, they argue that the specimen is a 480,000-year-old hammer that was created deliberately—potentially by Neanderthals or the species Homo heidelbergensis. If the researchers’ conclusions are correct, that would make the tool the oldest of its kind in Europe.

Whichever species created it, the discovery suggests they were “sophisticated in their use of tools,” says study co-author Silvia Bello, a researcher at the Natural History Museum, in a statement.

“Collecting and shaping an elephant bone fragment and then using it on multiple occasions to shape and sharpen stone tools shows an advanced level of complex thinking and abstract thought,” she adds.

The fragment was discovered at an archaeological site in Boxgrove, a small village located about 60 miles south of London. Recently, scientists decided to revisit the four-inch-long artifact, using an electron microscope to take a closer look.

Their investigation revealed the bone was studded with pits, marks and scores—some that appear to have been made by slicing, others by scraping—which indicates it was well-used. In some of the marks, they found tiny, embedded fragments of flint, suggesting the bone may have been used to sharpen stone tools.

Researchers think it was a “soft hammer,” a type of instrument made from antlers and mammal bones. They were commonly used for knapping, “a process where stones, bones or even antlers are struck against the edges of dulled stones to detach flakes and restore their sharpness,” as BBC Wildlife magazine’s Will Newton writes.

At Boxgrove, archaeologists suspect soft hammers were used for numerous purposes, including the production of handaxes. The 480,000-year-old tool was probably a rare “retoucher” used for lighter tasks that required more precision, such as refining and sharpening the cutting edges of stone tools used at butchery sites.

“The use of soft hammers and retouchers allowed for greater control in the knapping process compared to hard hammers, enabling early humans to produce more finely shaped and efficient tools,” the researchers write in the paper.

Roughly 480,000 years ago, during the Lower Paleolithic, Europe was brimming with straight-tusked elephants and steppe mammoths. But the behemoth creatures were largely absent from southern England, which means their bones—and the tools created from them—were probably considered highly valuable.

“No other elephant remains were found [at the site], so it is likely that this bone was brought in from somewhere else,” Bello tells IFL Science’s Benjamin Taub.

So far, researchers have not been able to identify the species or part of the body the bone came from. It’s also unclear how the bone was obtained, but some evidence suggests it was shaped and used while it was relatively fresh. Either way, the findings indicate our human ancestors were “resourceful gatherers of available materials and savvy about how best to use them,” Bello says in the statement.

A handful of elephant bone tools have been found elsewhere in Europe, but the oldest date to roughly 450,000 years ago. Most were found farther south, in places where elephants and mammoths were much more abundant.

Much older elephant bone tools have been found in Africa, including a trove of 1.5 million-year-old specimens recently unearthed in Tanzania. The hominins inhabiting the region must have been “very comfortable working with bone,” James Clark, an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge, told the New York Times’ Carl Zimmer in 2025.

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Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.