2023-09-20 20:07:07
“When I first saw it, I said to myself that this is not possible.” The enthusiasm of Professor Larry Barham, whose words are reported by The Guardian, understands the importance of his discovery.
This archaeologist from the University of Liverpool led the work of a team of scientists who identified what would be “the oldest wooden structure” made by humans never found. The details of this discovery were the subject of a scientific publication in the magazine Nature, this Wednesday, September 20.
The wooden structure in question was identified in excavations carried out in Zambia. It would have been “built” 476,000 years ago and could “to have formed part of a gateway or platform used by the ancestors of humans who lived along the Kalambo River”, note The Guardian.
Providing further details, The New Scientist describe exactly what was found by the team of scientists, namely “a log 1.40 m long placed on another larger one. The top log had tool marks and a deep gash in the middle. It thus fits with the log below at an angle of 75°, which allows a relatively solid assembly. According to researchers, it could be part of a large wooden structure”.
As this scientific information magazine explains, this discovery calls into question the perception we had until now of our ancestors, by suggesting that “some ancient communities were much less nomadic than we previously believed”. The proof ? They transformed their environment to make their lives easier.
However, these communities, as recalled The Guardian, were not yet the Homo sapiens that we are today, since these “emerged about 300,000 years ago”. According to the British newspaper, the structure discovered in Zambia could be the work ofA man from Heidelberg, “a predecessor of modern man who lived in the region”.
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