For centuries, archaeological discoveries have revealed artifacts of ancient people, providing rare glimpses into how they lived. From uncovering rules for a 4,000-year-old board game discovered in 1977 to mysterious cave pearls containing ancient Greek artifacts in Israel, each find reshapes what we know about ancient human history.
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In recent years, artifacts like an ancient stone-age mound that is one of the oldest structures in Europe, the oldest known Stone Age enclosure in Germany, and petroglyphs remote in the Mongolian Altai Mountains have helped uncover some surprising information about the Stone Age. However, a discovery revealed even more about this era, leading archaeologists to alter many long-held theories.
Archaeologists in Zambia recently found the world's oldest wooden structure, which is essential in understanding Stone Age building techniques. The discovery may have also proved that early humans were more ingenious than previously thought.
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How Scientists Discovered The World's Oldest Wooden Structure
The structure predates the first modern humans
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In 2019, Archaeologists discovered the world's oldest wooden structure during an excavation near a riverbank in Zambia's Kalambo Falls region, a site already known to be rich in prehistoric artifacts.
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Larry Barham, an archaeology professor at the University of Liverpool, wasn't sure if the find bore any significance, as it just looked like a log on top of another log. However, after getting a better look at the logs, the archaeological team found notches cut using human tools.
"It didn't look particularly exciting, but when you look closely, and you remove the sand around it, you can see where one sits on top of the other is a notch."
Scientists couldn't use carbon dating to determine the wood's age since this method only dates artifacts up to 50,000 years old in the region. The wood was much older than 50,000 years, so they used luminescent dating technology to estimate the last time the sun shone on the sediment near where the artifact was found.
They found that the wood was at least 476,000 years old, which predates the first modern humans, Homo sapiens, who first appeared about 315,000 years ago.
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Discovery Date:
2019
Discovery Age:
476,000 years old
Research Technology:
Luminescent Dating Technology
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Why The Discovery Of The Wooden Structure Is Significant
This rare discovery may be the key to reviving archaeological work in Zambia
Finding organic artifacts made of wood is rare since wood decomposes quickly if not protected from the elements. The wooden structure found near Kalambo Falls was an exception.
Although the area around the structure was waterlogged, the clay around it provided an oxygen-free environment ideal for preservation. Because of this discovery, archaeologists could study an ancient material not commonly found in the archaeological record.
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This discovery is also significant because of its connection to the Deep Roots Project. Unlike past excavations that relied on European researchers, this organization is known for partnering with local African researchers to complete archaeological excavations.
Maggie Katongo, curator of archaeology at Zambia's Livingstone Museum, believes this partnership will revive local interest in archaeology.
"There was a period when archaeology kind of just died out because the archaeologists stopped coming to Zambia to do any kind of work," says Katongo. "We don't have a lot of trained Zambians actively doing archaeology. I'm thinking now there will be more people drawn to look at Zambia again."
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What The Discovery Of The World's Oldest Wooden Structure Reveals About Life In The Stone Age
Stone Age humans may have been more advanced than archaeologists previously believed
The discovery challenges what archaeologists have learned about hominins, a combination of extinct human species that first appeared millions of years before Homo sapiens.
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Archaeologists initially thought these species were primitive hunter-gatherers who moved frequently during an era of limited technological advances. However, the wooden logs discovered in Zambia's Kalambo Falls region may have been used as a base or platform for a structure, leading scientists to believe hominins had permanent settlements.
The discovery also exhibits a level of craftsmanship that has never been seen before in Stone Age artifacts. The way the logs interlock, like the method used to build a present-day log cabin, shows that hominins had the cognitive ability to problem-solve, plan, and organize construction projects.
"I would say we need to consider these humans as having the ability to abstract forms from the environment and make them happen, and to pass [that knowledge] on through generations," says Barham. "And that's opened my mind to these pre-sapiens hominins being capable of what we would think of as quite complex behavior."
What Archaeologists Learned About Stone Age Hominins:
They had the cognitive ability to plan and create structures. They may have permanently settled in certain areas despite being hunter-gatherers.
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While archaeologists still don't know what kind of structure the logs were part of, they do know that this discovery is an important first step toward understanding life during the Stone Age. They hope Kalambo Falls will become a UNESCO World Heritage Site to protect the area and its hidden ancient artifacts.