Huge growth in use of quartz for tools shows sophistication of ancient communities

by University of Exeter

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A growth in the use of crystal quartz to make tools thousands of years ago shows the sophistication of ancient communities, according to new research.

The mineral was chosen because of its powerful symbolism, even though it involved painstaking work and other materials that would have been easier to use were available to prehistoric toolmakers, archaeologists argue.

Archaeologists have found there was a sudden spike in the number of tiny hand-made tools of less than 1cm made of crystal quartz in southern Africa around 14,000 years ago.