Here we see the obsidian deposits at level C at a site known as Simbiro III in Melka Kunture, Ethiopia.

 Here we see the obsidian deposits at level C at a site known as Simbiro III in Melka Kunture, Ethiopia.

It remains uncertain which hominin may have created these artifacts. Previouslyg, at other Melka Kunture sites, researchers have discovered hominin remains about 1.66 million years old that may have been Homo erectus, and fossils about 1 million years old that may have been Homo

 heidelbergensis, Mussi said. H. erectus is the oldest known early human to possess body proportions similar to modern humans, whereas H. heidelbergensis may have been a common ancestor of both

 modern humans and Neanderthals, according to the Smithsonian. Since the age of Level C at Simbiro III is more than 1.2 million years old, the hominins that made the obsidian hand axes there may have been closer in nature to H. erectus, Mussi said.