Answer: Shovels first emerged (as we know them today, as sticks were used previous) in the neothlithic period, using the scapula, or shoulder blade, of a large animal.
Explanation:
Wikipedia has an article on shovels as well. Although wikipedia mostly cannot be trusted, the person that wrote this most likely knows more then I. To but it bluntly, the shovel was discovered in the Neolithic, or the New Stone Age. This ranged from the period of 10,000 to 4,500 BCE. Shoulder blades of large animals were often used at that period.
(Article)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shovel#History
