The oldest wood find: 476,000-year-old structure revolutionizes human history

The researchers found wooden structures estimated to be about 476 thousand years old. They do not look like randomly stacked branches.

These findings look like they were specially processed and connected together, possibly creating a platform or base for housing. This level of woodworking far exceeds expectations of the abilities of people who lived in those distant times, Earth.com reports .

Professor Larry Barham of the University of Liverpool and his team discovered a wedge, a digging stick, a worked log, and a branch with a notch cut into it.

These unique artifacts were preserved due to the swampy conditions in the Calambo Falls area. Their creators were representatives who lived long before Homo sapiens, probably Homo heidelbergensis or a species close to them.

Most of the knowledge about early humans is based on stone artifacts, because stone can be preserved for centuries, while wood decomposes quickly. So far, evidence of early humans using wood or tools to process it has been limited to the use of fire, digging sticks, or spears. However, the findings at Kalambo Falls open up a new perspective.

The discovered artifacts demonstrate that early hominins were able to process wood by shaping and joining logs. This completely changes science's understanding of their skills and creativity.

"This discovery has turned my understanding of our ancestors upside down. Forget about the term 'Stone Age' - look at what they were capable of: they were creating something completely new and meaningful out of wood," said Barham.

"They were using their minds, their imagination, and their craftsmanship to create something that had never existed before and that they had never seen themselves," he added.

The wood, which is almost half a million years old, is a real rarity. To confirm its age, the team used methods that go beyond traditional approaches.

"Determining the age of such ancient finds is an extremely difficult task. We used the method of luminescent dating to do this. These modern technologies allow us to cover much older periods, opening up new perspectives on human evolution," explained Professor Jeff Dallaire of Aberystwyth University.

Interestingly, wood fragments were discovered during excavations near the Kalambo Falls in the 1960s. However, their age remained uncertain at the time due to the lack of appropriate dating methods, so the true value of this site has only now become clear.

Modern dating technologies have confirmed that these wooden structures belong to a very ancient era.

By pinpointing the exact time of their creation, researchers were able to understand how early humans chose materials, planned their work, and adapted to the environment long before the appearance of Homo sapiens.

This discovery is significant because scientists previously believed that early hominins' progress from simple to complex solutions was gradual and predictable. It was believed that these ancient people were not particularly inventive. However, the findings near Kalambo Falls undermine this theory.

Ancient people did not just use what they found at hand. They deliberately processed wood, shaping it into a clear shape and creating structured objects. This shows their ability to plan and think strategically.

The research focuses not only on the tools they used, but also on what they created. They worked with wood, understanding its properties, and turned ordinary logs into complex objects.

They realized that certain pieces of wood that were cut and fitted together could form strong surfaces or supports. This level of planning and execution appeared much earlier than previously thought.

Thus, the term "Stone Age" is no longer entirely appropriate. By calling this period the Stone Age, scholars may have underestimated the importance of other materials. Stone dominates our understanding of prehistory only because of its durability. In reality, early humans probably used a variety of materials to survive, but most wooden products have not survived because they decayed over time.

Now, with direct evidence, we can see that early hominins used more than just stone. They actively worked with wood, creating tools, platforms, and other objects that shaped their lives.

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