Archaeologists working in Zambia have made a groundbreaking discovery that has the potential to reshape our understanding of early human life. The find consists of ancient wooden logs embedded in the banks of a river, suggesting that stone-age people, almost half a million years ago, used wood to build structures that may have been shelters. This revelation challenges the previous notion that early humans led simple, nomadic lives.
The research, published in the prestigious journal Nature, has generated significant excitement in the archaeological community. It is led by Professor Larry Barham from the University of Liverpool, who heads the Deep Roots of Humanity research project responsible for excavating and analyzing this ancient timber.
“This find has changed how I think about our early ancestors,” stated Professor Barham, reflecting on the implications of the discovery. “They made something new, and large, from wood. They used their intelligence, imagination, and skills to create something they’d never seen before, something that had never previously existed.”
The discovery includes not only the ancient wooden logs but also wooden tools, such as digging sticks. However, what truly astonished the researchers were two pieces of wood positioned at right angles to each other, both bearing notches that were clearly cut using stone tools. This notching allowed the logs to fit together and be used as structural elements.
The estimated age of these logs is approximately 476,000 years old, a staggering revelation that predates the current belief in the simplicity of early human existence. Until now, evidence of wood use by early humans was primarily limited to fire-making and crafting tools like digging sticks and spears.
The ancient logs were remarkably preserved due to the waterlogged conditions along the Kalambo Falls in northern Zambia, near the Tanzania border. The logs were essentially pickled by the waterlogged environment, providing a unique opportunity for researchers to study ancient wood.
The age of the logs was determined through luminescence dating, which measures the time elapsed since the grains of rock were last exposed to light. This dating method confirmed the logs’ antiquity.
While the exact purpose of these wooden structures remains uncertain, experts speculate that they might have served as platforms for shelters or other functional constructions. It’s unclear which hominid species was responsible for these constructions, as no bones have been discovered at the site so far. However, the discovery raises questions about the sophistication and capabilities of our ancient relatives.
The wooden artifacts are currently being stored in controlled environments in the UK to preserve their remarkable state. However, they will eventually be returned to Zambia for public display.
What are they looking for in the first place? Can any African explorer go to Europe and explore uninterrupted? These people are busy looking for minerals and now they have created a story which will make unsuspecting Africans to give them a license to explore without interference. Wake up from your deep sleep.
A little education is dangerous
You only accept education when it’s from a muzungu? we really have some special cases in Zambia.
@Futurezed who said so? Certainly not me. Since you’ve assumed so you should be the special case
Why are some just scared of their own shadows ?
A little education is dangerous
@ future zed
come on don’t be so naive, archeological work is done all over the world, your comment is laughable.
@ I am watching, Yes apply for a visa to go and trace your ancestors in the UK and see if it will be granted. What benefits have you gained from archeology? theft of minerals and historical artefacts? You are the naive ones, that’s how people request to start mining in places like the lower Zambezi with your eyes closed.
They had pf style of leadership who built them infrastructure. Alebwelelapo
They had pf style of Ieadership who built them infrastructure. Alebwelelapo
What are they doing here again? Please give the damn thing a name and leave. I am sure our government did not even know that there are white people digging around for who knows what. How did they even know in the first place that there is something buried there. These are just stories to get gullible Africans to there side so that they continue digging uninterrupted. If it was a Zambian digging by now he will be locked in jails as an illegal miner.
They do have clearance to do what they are doing. If they are doing something else that burden of proof is on the accuser … sensationalism si ya bwino abale. The gullible will pick up on that and start running with conspiracies.
And end up killing innocent people Mumbwa style ha ha ha! Researches including archeological, are done all the time in the world and if you want to follow them subscribe to a relevant journal. Researchers will publish everything they are doing transparently. Kulibe vakuti they are after minerals. You need to have resources to do them. UNZA doesnt have these resources and therefore doesnt do such complicated ones as these but usually it will be contacted and informed. If you want to do a similar research in Europe you go through the same process: do a proposal. It has an academic routine that governments and institutions are aware of.
Come on now!
This is the problem with our continent. We are our own en3mies in that we invite distraction and collaborate for selfish reasons but when you ask a muzungu, they will say it’s your leaders who are corrupt and selfish even when the sponsor and accomplice happen to be them. I sense some of the people going against here have vested interest. The opposition should follow this up and establish how these people got there in the first place.
Im interested in the research results because: “The estimated age of these logs is approximately 476,000 years old” Man was already making sophisticated structures long before the arrival of This challenges the scientific belief that humans have been on earth for 300,000 years. Can humanity be traced back further than Broken Hill Man? Just one question and I hope LT will follow up on it.
@futurezed do you think broken hill man was human? Wasn’t he just another species that died off?
People have proved that African humans were in Zambia 500000 years before Americans even existed and now somehow madandaula? Some would reject the scientific proof of their own civilisation’s unique value! How sad
What is sad is that even free Zambians have no capacity to do the archaeology themselves but would rather let those who have abus3d them for years continue to do so. The skull of Broken Hill man is still sitting in a London museum for years. The spirit of that poor soul must be tormented by the cold weather.
@futurezed do you think broken hill man was human? Wasn’t he just another species that died off?
Here is a better report on the same development by a UK newspaper, The Guardian: Scientists at the University of Aberystwyth dated the structure to at least 476,000 years old, from long before Homo sapiens are thought to have emerged about 300,000 years ago. The structure may be the work of Homo heidelbergensis, a predecessor of modern humans that lived in the region.
The scientists arrived at Kalambo Falls in 2019 hoping to press on with excavations made in 2006, only to find the river had shifted course and flooded the area.
Just proof that God and Jesus is a non starter, proof we came from these people not Adam and Eve