Nearly half a million years ago, humans in Africa were assembling wood into large structures, according to a study published Thursday that describes notched and tapered logs buried under sand in Zambia.
The discovery drastically pushes back the historical record of structural woodworking.
Before, the oldest known examples of this craft were 9,000-year-old platforms on the edge of a British lake.
It’s not clear what early humans were building in Africa.
Dr. Milks said that the new discovery suggested that they used wood not just for spears or digging sticks, but also for far more ambitious creations such as platforms or walkways.
Persons:
Annemieke Milks, It’s, Milks
Organizations:
University of Reading
Locations:
Africa, Zambia, British