A discovery at Kalambo Falls, Zambia, has rewritten the understanding of wood use. It involves two logs intentionally joined with a notch to form a structure, dated to 476,000 years ago. This finding predates the appearance of Homo sapiens by a wide margin, indicating that earlier hominins already managed concepts of carpentry and construction.🪵
Construction technique and tools in the Paleolithic🔨
The structure shows a precise cut and a notch to assemble one log on top of another, suggesting the use of sharp stone tools to carve the wood. This work is not simple carving, but an assembly designed to create a stable platform or foundation, possibly for a shelter or storage. Its preservation is due to the river's water levels keeping it in an anoxic environment, preserving organic matter for millennia.
Assembly instructions lost in the Pleistocene😅
One imagines the scene: a group of hominins, without an Ikea manual in sight, discussing how to fit log A into slot B. No screws or glue, just stones and a lot of determination. It is likely that the first DIY project in history ended with someone hitting their thumb with a hammerstone, a ritual that, apparently, we have inherited genetically along with technical skill.