The trove of hominid artifacts were uncovered by miners in northeastern Sudan.
They include almond-shaped cleavers and hand axes with a transverse cutting edge.
Archaeologists theorize the site was a workshop of sorts, because stone flakes formed during their production were also preserved.
It's believed to be the oldest confirmed example of tool manufacturing in the Eastern Sahara with a well-confirmed chronology.
Quartzite hand-axes found in a gold mine in the Eastern Desert Atbara River (EDAR) area of Sudan. Workmanship on the tools leads archaeologists to believe they're between 700,000 and a million years old
The prehistoric 'tool shed' was uncovered in an abandoned gold mine about 45 miles east of the city of Atbara in the Eastern Desert Atbara River (EDAR) area.