Editing Australopithecus (section)

==Technology==
It is debated if the ''Australopithecus'' hand was anatomically capable of producing stone tools.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Domalain |first1=Mathieu |last2=Bertin |first2=Anne |last3=Daver |first3=Guillaume |date=2017-08-01 |title=Was Australopithecus afarensis able to make the Lomekwian stone tools? Towards a realistic biomechanical simulation of hand force capability in fossil hominins and new insights on the role of the fifth digit |journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol |series=Hominin biomechanics, virtual anatomy and inner structural morphology: From head to toe. A tribute to Laurent Puymerail |language=en |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=572–584 |doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2016.09.003 |bibcode=2017CRPal..16..572D |issn=1631-0683|doi-access=free }}</ref> ''A. garhi'' was associated with large mammal bones bearing evidence of processing by stone tools, which may indicate australopithecine tool production.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=S.|last1=Semaw|first2=P.|last2=Renne|first3=J. W. K.|last3=Harris|year=1997|title=2.5-million-year-old stone tools from Gona, Ethiopia|journal=Nature|volume=385|issue=6614|pages=333–336|doi=10.1038/385333a0|pmid=9002516|bibcode=1997Natur.385..333S|s2cid=4331652}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first1=S.|last1=Semaw|first2=M. J.|last2=Rogers|first3=J.|last3=Quade|display-authors=et al.|year=2003|title=2.6-Million-year-old stone tools and associated bones from OGS-6 and OGS-7, Gona, Afar, Ethiopia|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=45|issue=2|pages=169–177|doi=10.1016/s0047-2484(03)00093-9|pmid=14529651|bibcode=2003JHumE..45..169S }}</ref><ref name=Asfaw1999>{{cite journal|last1=Asfaw|first1=Berhane|last2=White|first2=Tim|last3=Lovejoy|first3=Owen|last4=Latimer|first4=Bruce|last5=Simpson|first5=Scott|last6=Suwa|first6=Gen|title=Australopithecus garhi: A New Species of Early Hominid from Ethiopia|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=284|issue=5414|pages=629–635|date=23 April 1999|doi=10.1126/science.284.5414.629|pmid=10213683|bibcode=1999Sci...284..629A}}</ref><ref name=deHeinzelin1999>{{cite journal|last1=de Heinzelin|first1=Jean|last2=Clark|first2=J. Desmond|last3=White|first3=Tim| last4=Hart|first4=William|last5=Renne|first5=Paul|last6=WoldeGabriel|first6=Giday|last7=Beyene|first7=Yonas|last8=Vrba|first8=Elisabeth|title=Environment and Behavior of 2.5-Million-Year-Old Bouri Hominids|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=284|issue=5414|pages=625–629|date=23 April 1999|doi=10.1126/science.284.5414.625|pmid=10213682|bibcode=1999Sci...284..625D}}</ref> Stone tools dating to roughly the same time as ''A. garhi'' (about 2.6 mya) were later discovered at the nearby [[Gona, Ethiopia|Gona]] and [[Ledi-Geraru]] sites, but the appearance of ''Homo'' at Ledi-Geraru ([[LD 350-1]]) casts doubt on australopithecine authorship.<ref name=Braun2019>{{cite journal |first1=D. R. |last1=Braun |first2=V. |last2=Aldeias |first3=W. |last3=Archer |display-authors=et al. |year=2019 |title=Earliest known Oldowan artifacts at >2.58 Ma from Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia, highlight early technological diversity |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |volume=116 |issue=24 |pages=11,712–11,717 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1820177116 |pmid=31160451 |pmc=6575601 |bibcode=2019PNAS..11611712B |doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 2010, cut marks dating to 3.4 mya on a [[bovid]] leg were found at the [[Dikaka]] site, which were at first attributed to butchery by ''A. afarensis'',<ref>{{cite journal|first1=S. P.|last1=McPherron|first2=Z.|last2=Alemseged|first3=C. W.|last3=Marean|display-authors=et al.|year=2010|title=Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia|journal=Nature|volume=466|issue=7308|pages=857–860|doi=10.1038/nature09248|pmid=20703305|bibcode=2010Natur.466..857M|s2cid=4356816}}</ref> but because the fossil came from a [[sandstone]] unit (and were modified by abrasive sand and gravel particles during the fossilisation process), the attribution to butchery is dubious.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=M.|last1=Domínguez-Rodrigo|first2=T. R.|last2=Pickering|first3=H. T.|last3=Bunn|year=2010|title=Configurational approach to identifying the earliest hominin butchers|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=107|issue=49|pages=20929–20934|doi=10.1073/pnas.1013711107|pmid=21078985|pmc=3000273|bibcode=2010PNAS..10720929D|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 2015, the [[Lomekwi]] culture was discovered at Lake Turkana dating to 3.3 mya, possibly attributable to ''[[Kenyanthropus]]''<ref>{{cite journal|first1=S.|last1=Harmand|first2=J. E.|last2=Lewis|first3=C. S.|last3=Feibel|display-authors=et al.|year=2015|title=3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya|journal=Nature|volume=521|issue=7552|pages=310–315|doi=10.1038/nature14464|pmid=25993961|bibcode=2015Natur.521..310H|s2cid=1207285}}</ref> or ''A. deyiremeda''.<ref name="Spoor2015">{{cite journal|last1=Spoor|first1=Fred|title=Palaeoanthropology: The middle Pliocene gets crowded|journal=Nature|volume=521|issue=7553|year=2015|pages=432–433|issn=0028-0836|doi=10.1038/521432a|pmid=26017440|bibcode=2015Natur.521..432S|s2cid=4472489|doi-access=free}}</ref>