Observation. Excavations in Kenya's Olorgesailie Basin document prepared stone cores and points, worked iron-rich red pigment, and raw material transported at least 25–50 km. The investigated Middle Stone Age sites are placed around 320–295 ka by argon-argon and uranium-series dating of geological contexts. Brooks et al., Science (2018).
Claim status. observed: artifacts, pigment traces and nonlocal stone; dated: the enclosing geological sequence and occupations as modeled. inferred: expanded knowledge of landscape and possibly exchange or planned procurement. open: direct versus down-the-line acquisition, exact pigment use, and the species of the toolmakers. These finds overlap the early history of our species but cannot be labeled a specific Homo sapiens population simply from their age. Next test: compare stone sourcing and geological dates with other East African sequences; assess whether repeated nonlocal material shows transport by the same group or exchange between groups.