Ancient stone tools found in Ukraine date to over 1 million years ago, and may be oldest in Europe

Ancient stone tools found in western Ukraine may be the oldest known evidence of early human presence in Europe. The chipped stones, deliberately fashioned from volcanic rock, were excavated from a quarry in Korolevo in the 1970s. Archaeologists used new methods to date the layers of sedimentary rock surrounding the tools to more than 1 million years old, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Nature. It’s not certain which early human ancestors fashioned the tools, but it may have been Homo erectus. The find suggests that the early humans who dispersed from Africa with these tools were able to survive in diverse environments.