Afarensis Case Study

Did A. afarensis make and use stone tools at the site of Dikika some 3.39 million years ago?
The first evidence of stone tool use and manufacture was found in Gona (Ethiopia) which dates back to between 2.6 and 2.5 million years ago as well as several cut-marked bones found near the Bouri site which indicates stone tool use 2.5 million years ago (McPherron et al. 2010). A. Afarensis is a hominin species found between 3.6 and 2.9 million years ago at sites in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. Since being discovered at Laetoli (Tanzania) and Hadar (Ethiopia) A. afarensis has never before been associated with stone tool use (Dominguez-Rodrigo et al, 2010). Recently McPherron et al published a paper challenging this theory, and instead stating that
McPherron et al states that mark H1 on DIK-55-2 shows clear micro striations and has a winding pattern typical of a percussion mark although Dominguez-Rodrigo et al argues that the proximity of mark H2 to mark H1 suggests that mark H1 resulted from trampling as well as the fact that it is made up of concentric flaked slices near DIK-55–2’s distal breakage plane and has small gashes which are similar to damage structures found on experimentally trampled bones.
In the case of marks A1 and A2 found on DIK-55-3, McPherron et al states that the markings are V-shaped and have micro striations along the groove and diagnose it as a high confidence stone tool cut mark. Dominguez-Rodrigo et al agrees with McPherron et al, to some extent, that the marks resemble cut marks created by stone tools used experimentally, but Dominguez-Rodrigo et al states that only in a less controversial context these marks could be