Final answer:
Anthropologists have identified cognitive planning, imitation leading to gestural language, and the co-evolution of tool technology and brain structure as the central features of tool use. Examples include Oldowan tools and the intricate blade tools from the Upper Paleolithic, all contributing to the development of material culture and technology.
Step-by-step explanation:
Anthropologists have identified three central features of tool use that are significant to the understanding of human evolution and development. The first feature highlights the cognitive aspect, where tool making requires planning and precision, reflecting mental capabilities that also support complex speech. The second emphasizes a link between imitation and language development, suggesting that imitation in tool making could have led to gestural language among early hominins. Lastly, the third feature ties the advancement in tool technology and complexity with innovative changes in brain structure, which facilitated the development of language, indicating a symbiotic evolution of tool use and linguistic capabilities.
Examples to illustrate these features include Homo habilis' Oldowan tools from Olduvai Gorge, designed for butchering carcasses approximately 2.5 million years ago. The blade tool industry during the Upper Paleolithic represents an advancement in technology with a shift to using various materials for tool construction, and the prepared-core technique refinement to create more efficient blade tools compared to older flake tools. These advancements in creating specialized technology contributed to the material culture, which includes all objects made and used by humans.