Oldowan

An early phase in the development of hominid societies recognized on the basis of stone toolmaking industries from Bed I sites in the Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, and other African sites. Consisting of simple chipped pebbles made by removing flakes from alternate faces of a naturally rounded pebble or cobble. Known as ‘choppers’, these tools show signs of use for cutting and scraping, but were probably opportunistically made as the need arose. Oldowan industries have been dated to the period 2 million to 1.6 million years ago and are provisionally associated with Homo habilis.