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Hominins built with wood 476,000 years ago

Understanding the timeline of technological developments sheds light on early societies. A remarkable finding in Africa of a structure made from shaped wood provides clues about our hominin relatives.
  1. Annemieke Milks

    1. Annemieke Milks is in the Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AB, UK.

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The archaeological record is biased against the preservation of organic materials. For no period is this more true than for the Pleistocene epoch, spanning roughly 2.6 million to 11,600 ago. This period provides only isolated examples of early evidence of hominin ancestors using wood or other plant materials. Writing in Nature, Barham et al.1 present their discoveries of modified wood from Kalambo Falls in Zambia. These include the earliest-known example of a hominin-crafted wooden structure, as well as a collection of wooden tools.

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Nature 622, 34-36 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02858-1

References

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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