Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of oldest wooden structure--See Date!!

[cally]

Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of the oldest wooden structure on record: a pair of interlocking logs connected by a notch that date to 476,000 years ago.

Discovered along the Kalambo River in Zambia, the simple construction predates the first appearance of Homo sapiens in Africa. The discovery, detailed in a new paper published Wednesday in Nature, suggests human ancestors built structures made of wood and may have been more complex than previously thought.


“This is a disruptive discovery,” Larry Barham, a co-author of the new study and an archaeologist at the University of Liverpool in England, tells Scientific American’s Tom Metcalfe. “I never would have thought that pre-Homo sapiens would have had the capacity to plan something like this.”



https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-uncover-notched-logs-that-may-be-the-oldest-known-wooden-structure-180982942/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&spMailingID=48810370&spUserID=MTUzNTY5NjUzOTk1OAS2&spJobID=2542629392&spReportId=MjU0MjYyOTM5MgS2

[wnylib]

1. Fascinating. I'm thinking that the people who built it

were direct ancestors of those who evolved into Homo sapiens. Passed their smarts onto their descendants.

[VMA131Marine]

2. I think all we can say at this point is they must have shared a common ancestor

with modern humans. But they could have been on a branch that died out, like the Neanderthals did. The thinking is that this was made by Homo Heidelbergensis, which is the last common ancestor between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens.

[GreenWave]

3. I wonder if that date will remain unchanged.

[cally]

4. Seems astonishing

But discovery was 2019. Probably time to duplicate analyses.

[slightlv]

5. I'm wondering if we haven't lost more wisdom

through the ages than we've gained...

[Judi Lynn]

6. Wonderful! So interested in what lies ahead with new information about this. Thank you.