Archaeologists find 800,000-year-old pick

Mainichi Shumbun, Thursday 4 November 1999

TSUKIDATE, Miyagi—A stone implement, which could be the oldest of its kind ever found in Japan, has been unearthed at the Kamitakamori site here, an excavation team announced earlier this week.

Three stone implements, believed to be the oldest of their kind in Japan, were unearthed here in late October. They are estimated to be around 700,000 years old.

Members of the team said the stone pick found on Tuesday from a layer 50 centimeters below the previous discoveries could date back 800,000 years.

The 3-centimerer-thick implement has a fanlike shape and is 7.5 centimeters long and 6 centimeters wide.

The archaeologists suggested that more implements could turn up as they dig deeper.