430,000-Year-Old Wooden Tools Redefine Early Human Tech in Greece
Researchers analyzing wood remains from the Marathousa 1 site in central Greece report two wooden fragments dating to about 430,000 years ago that show shaping and wear consistent with human use (one alder digging/bark-stripping tool; another willow or poplar fragment). A third alder piece bears carnivore marks, not human modification. Together with stone tools and butchered animals at the lakeside site, the find constitutes the oldest known hand-held wooden tools and pushes back the timeline for wooden tool use by at least 40,000 years, highlighting early plant-based technology during the Middle Pleistocene and suggesting fierce competition with large carnivores.
