Ancient Woodworking Redefines Prehistoric Tech: 476,000-Year-Old Wood Structure Found

Archaeologists at Kalambo Falls, Zambia report a 476,000-year-old wooden structure—including notched wood, a wedge, a digging stick, and a cut log—preserved by waterlogged conditions. Using luminescence dating, researchers assign the find to a time when early hominins, possibly Homo heidelbergensis, were capable of deliberate wooden construction, predating Homo sapiens by about 200,000 years and challenging the notion that the Stone Age dominated prehistory.