Archeologists Discover the World's Oldest Wooden Structure in Zambia
- DW
Zambia – Archaeologists working near Zambia's Kalambo Falls say they have unearthed the world's oldest wooden structure.
Embedded in clay and further preserved by a high water table, scientists revealed that the structure made from the logs of a large-fruited willow tree, was intentionally created roughly 476,000 years ago.
The well-preserved specimen was made before the advent of Homo sapiens, which archaeologists say points to a vastly higher cognitive ability than has been previously ascribed to such ancient ancestors.
The oldest wooden structure known before the announcement of the Zambia find was just 9,000 years old. The oldest known wooden artifact, discovered in Israel, is a 780,000-year-old fragment of plank.
Kayu tertua di dunia
- DW
Find also suggests breaks in nomadic lifestyle
Larry Barham, an archaeologist from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom said that the structure, located above a 235-meter-high (770 foot) waterfall on the banks of Zambia's Kalambo River, had been discovered by chance in 2019.
Barham was the lead author of a paper outlining the find in the scientific journal Nature.
"The framework could have supported a walkway or platform raised above the seasonally wet surroundings. A platform could have multiple purposes including storage of firewood, tools, food and as a foundation on which to place a hut," Barham explained.
"Not only did the working of trees require considerable skill, the right tools and planning, the effort involved suggests that the makers were staying in the location for extended periods whereas we have always had a model of Stone Age people as nomadic," he added.
Barham also mentioned: "Use of wood in this way suggests the cognitive ability to these early humans was greater than we have believed based on stone tools alone,"
Scientists also discovered numerous wooden tools from the same time at the site, though they say no skeletal remains have been discovered.
