500,000-Year-Old Wooden Structure In Africa Stuns Experts. Here's Why

Professor Larry Barham from the University of Liverpool said that this finding has changed how we think about our early ancestors.

Researchers from the University of Liverpool and Aberystwyth University have made a groundbreaking discovery: humans were building wooden structures half a million years ago, much earlier than previously thought. This discovery challenges the long-held view that Stone Age humans were nomadic and technologically unsophisticated. The researchers found evidence of a simple wooden structure, made by shaping two logs with stone tools, at the archaeological site of Kalambo Falls in Zambia.

The structure may have formed part of a walkway or platform for human ancestors who lived along the Kalambo River nearly 500,000 years ago. This discovery is significant because it suggests that humans were more advanced than previously thought. It also shows that humans were able to adapt to their environment and build structures to meet their needs, even in the harsh Stone Age world.

The research, published in the journal Nature, reports on the excavation of well-preserved wood at the archaeological site of Kalambo Falls, Zambia, dating back at least 476,000 years and predating the evolution of our own species, Homo sapiens. Expert analysis of stone tool cut marks on the wood shows that these early humans shaped and joined two large logs to make a structure, probably the foundation of a platform or part of a dwelling.