OSAKA — A group of scholars in western Japan said Tuesday they have devised a method to assess the age of unearthed stone tools by examining the degree of weathering on their surface.
The group, led by Tsuneto Nagatomo, a professor at Nara University of Education, has found that the approximate age of stone tools could be calculated by measuring the thickness of crumbling layers on the stone's surface.
Nagatomo said he hopes the method will help verify the authenticity of controversial Paleolithic stone tools discovered in northeastern Japan.