Oldest known whale bone tools dated to be 19000 to 20000 years old

A recent study conducted by Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and the University of British Columbia analyzed 83 whale bone tools excavated from Bay of Biscay and Santa Catalina cave in Spain. Radiography and mass spectrometry were used for dating and identification of whale species.

The tools were created from remains of at least five different species of whales. The oldest of the analyzed tools was dated to be 19,000 to 20,000 years old. The identified species include sperm whales, fin whales, blue whales and gray whales. The species, excluding gray whales which are restricted to North Pacific and Arctic Ocean, are still found in Bay of Biscay region.

The research was published in Nature Communications.

This report was published by Bone & Bronze.