Humans have built with wood for 4.7L years

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: msc

Context:

Along the banks of the Kalambo River in Zambia near Africa’s second-highest waterfall, archaeologists have excavated two logs of the large-fruited bushwillow tree that were notched, shaped and joined nearly half a million years ago.

Wooden structures built by human:

These artifacts found along the Kalambo River represent the oldest-known example of humans – in this case a species that preceded our own – building wooden structures, a milestone in technological achievement that indicates that our forerunners displayed more ingenuity than previously thought.
The overlying log at Kalambo Falls is about 1.4 metres long, with tapering ends. About 1.5 metres of the underlying log was excavated.
The wood, found in a waterlogged condition, was preserved by a permanent high-water table at the site. Clay sediments surrounding it provided an oxygen-free environment preventing decay.
The logs, modified using stone tools, appear to have been part of a framework for a structure.
- Earlier it was thought that the humans at that time simply roamed the landscape hunting and gathering resources.
The framework of the log structure could have multiple purposes including storage of firewood, tools, food and as a foundation on which to place a hut.

Significance of the findings:

The discovery suggests that the humans of that time were skilled, having sharp tools and staying at a location for a long period. It was contradictory to the earlier notion that stone age people were nomadic people.
A vast majority of archaeological sites of this age preserve only the stone tools, but Kalambo Falls provides us a unique insight into the wooden objects that these tools were being used to create, allowing us a much richer and more complete picture of the lives of these people.
The earliest-known Homo sapiens fossils date from roughly 300,000 years ago in Morocco. The Kalambo Falls logs were determined to be from about 476,000 years ago.

Homo heidelbergensis:

No human remains were found there, but it is suspected that the artefacts were fashioned by a species called Homo heidelbergensis known from about 700,000 to 200,000 years ago.
Homo heidelbergensis possessed a large brow ridge and a bigger braincase and flatter face than earlier hominins – species on the human evolutionary lineage.

Source: TH