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    "story_id": "mp-2026-07-28-017",
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    "headline": "An Elephant Bone Kept Stone Tools Sharp",
    "slug": "an-elephant-bone-kept-stone-tools-sharp",
    "dek": "Microscopy and 3D scans identified a nearly 500,000-year-old Boxgrove bone fragment as a repeatedly used retoucher.",
    "summary": "Microscopy and 3D scans identified a nearly 500,000-year-old Boxgrove bone fragment as a repeatedly used retoucher.",
    "body_text": "Flint fragments embedded in impact marks show that early humans used the dense elephant or mammoth bone to repair handaxes. The Science Advances analysis makes it the oldest known elephant-bone tool in Europe, though the species and whether people hunted or scavenged the animal remain unknown.",
    "why_it_matters": "Microscopy and 3D scans identified a nearly 500,000-year-old Boxgrove bone fragment as a repeatedly used retoucher.",
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    "tags": [
      "Boxgrove",
      "bone tool",
      "early humans"
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    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-07-28-019",
      "title": "University College London via ScienceDaily: Boxgrove elephant-bone retoucher",
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    "title": "An Elephant Bone Kept Stone Tools Sharp",
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