By Tim Binnall
Archaeologists in Zambia have unearthed the ancient remnants of what is believed to be the oldest wooden structure ever to be found. The remarkable discovery was reportedly made by researchers from the University of Liverpool and Aberystwyth University as they conducted an excavation at the country's Kalambo Falls. To their astonishment, the team found a pair of well-preserved logs which were joined together by way of notches crafted using stone tools. The rudimentary structure, which they theorize could have been the base of a platform or house, is thought to be an astounding 476,000 years old.
Should their analysis be correct, the joined logs would constitute the oldest-known evidence of our distant ancestors crafting wood to create a structure, which upends previous thinking about human evolution. "Forget the label 'Stone Age,' look at what these people were doing: they made something new, and large, from wood," marveled the University of Liverpool's Larry Barham, "they used their intelligence, imagination, and skills to create something they'd never seen before, something that had never previously existed." Beyond the ingenuity on display by way of the two logs, the researchers also note that the discovery calls into question previous assumptions regarding ancient humans may have lived.
To that end, they observe that the current thinking regarding our human ancestors is that they were nomadic in nature. However, the ancient wooden structure would seem to suggest that they may have actually settled in locations which were conducive to survival. Kalambo Falls, the researchers argue, would be just such a spot as it provided both a consistent source of water as well as access to nearby forests where food and wood could be obtained. "They transformed their surroundings to make life easier, even if it was only by making a platform to sit on by the river to do their daily chores," Barham observed, musing that "these folks were more like us than we thought."