World's oldest wooden structure defies Stone-Age stereotypes
Archaeologists dug into a riverbank in Zambia and uncovered what they call the earliest known wood construction by humans. The half-million year-old artifacts could change how we see Stone-Age people.
The find didn't look like much at first – basically a log, lying crosswise over another log.
"It didn't look particularly exciting," says Larry Barham, professor of archaeology at the University of Liverpool. "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."
That notch suggested that the logs had been manipulated by human beings – extraordinarily ancient ones, who once frequented this site above the dramatic 772-foot Kalambo Falls in Zambia.
Later analysis of the logs would reveal telltale signs of having been cut, chopped and shaped by human tools.
"This thing was an
