Latest news with #woodentools
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Determine Ancient Origins of Cache of 35 Wooden Tools Found in China
A joint team of archaeologists, chronologists, geologists, and paleontologists have successfully dated a hoard of wooden tools recovered nearly a decade ago, Ancient Origins reported. The ancient tools were originally found in two separate excavations at an archaeological site in Gantangqing, southwestern China, between 2015–2016 and 2018–2019. They were found nestled with a variety of plant and animal fossils as well as stone artifacts in low-oxygen, clay-heavy sediment, which kept the wood intact over thousands of years. New dating has shown the tools to be around 300,000 years old, which places their creation near the end of the Early Paleolithic Period, or 'stone age.' It's remarkably rare to find wooden tools outside of Africa or western Eurasia which are older than 50,000 years. Of the 35 tools found, 32 were determined by scientists to have been modified at their base, with some possessing rounded ends while others were equipped with thin or edged chisel-like blades. Most of the tools were manufactured from pinewood, with a small number crafted from hardwood. Also found were two larger digging implements which, it was determined, were designed to be operated with two hands. 'These are unique forms of digging implements not documented elsewhere, suggesting localized functional adaptations,' Bo Li, one of the chronologists who worked on the project, wrote for Ancient Origins. 'There were also four distinct hook-shaped tools—likely used for cutting roots—and a series of smaller tools for one-handed use.' According to Li, 'the find significantly expands our understanding of early hominin woodworking capabilities.' 'The wooden implements from Gantangqing represent the earliest known evidence for the use of digging sticks and for the exploitation of underground plant storage organs such as tubers within the Oriental biogeographic realm. Our discovery shows the use of sophisticated wood technology in a very different environmental context from what has been seen at sites of similar age in Europe and Africa.'Archaeologists Determine Ancient Origins of Cache of 35 Wooden Tools Found in China first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 12, 2025
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Oldest wooden tools unearthed in East Asia show that ancient humans made planned trips to dig up edible plants
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Archaeologists have discovered 35 wooden tools from the Old Stone Age in China which they say show impressive craftsmanship, advanced cognitive skills and offer new insights into what ancient humans might have eaten. The 300,000-year-old tools are the oldest wooden artifacts ever documented in East Asia, according to a study published Thursday (July 3) in the journal Science. They include digging sticks made of pine and hardwood, hooks for cutting roots and small, pointed implements for extracting edible plants from the ground. "This discovery is exceptional because it preserves a moment in time when early humans were using sophisticated wooden tools to harvest underground food resources," study lead author Bo Li, a professor in the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences at the University of Wollongong Australia, said in a statement. The tools date to the early Paleolithic period, also known as the Old Stone Age (3.3 million to 300,000 years ago). Wooden artifacts from this time are extremely rare due to organic decomposition, and only a handful of archaeological sites have yielded similar objects, according to the new study. But most of these objects, including spears from Schöningen in Germany, were designed for hunting — these newfound tools were made for digging. Researchers found the tools buried in oxygen-poor clay sediments on the shores of an ancient lake in Gantangqing, an archaeological site in southwestern China's Yunnan province. The sediments preserved deliberate polishing and scraping marks on the tools, as well as plant and soil remains on some of the edges that gave researchers clues about the tools' function. Related: Pfyn culture flint tool: World's oldest known 'Swiss Army' knife "Our results suggest that hominins at Gantangqing made strategic utilization of lakeshore food resources," the researchers wrote in the study. "They made planned visits to the lakeshore and brought with them fabricated tools of selected wood for exploiting underground tubers, rhizomes, or corms." Such planned visits show that 300,000 years ago, human ancestors in East Asia were crafting and using tools for specific purposes, demonstrating considerable foresight and intention, the researchers wrote. The artifacts also suggest that these early humans had a good understanding of which plants and parts of plants were edible, the researchers noted. "The tools show a level of planning and craftsmanship that challenges the notion that East Asian hominins were technologically conservative," Li said in the statement. This idea is rooted in previous discoveries in East Asia of stone tools that seemed "primitive" in comparison to tools found in western Eurasia and Africa, according to the study. RELATED STORIES —Was it a stone tool or just a rock? An archaeologist explains how scientists can tell the difference —1.5 million-year-old bone tools crafted by human ancestors in Tanzania are oldest of their kind —150,000-year-old stone tools reveal humans lived in tropical rainforests much earlier than thought The researchers dated the tools using a technique developed by Li that uses infrared luminescence and another method called electron spin resonance, which measures a material's age through the number of electrons trapped inside its crystal defects due to exposure to natural radiation. Both produced estimates indicating that the wooden tools were between 250,000 and 361,000 years old. The plant remains on the tools have not been identified because their decomposition is too advanced, but other plant remains at Gantangqing indicate that early humans there ate berries, pine nuts, hazelnuts, kiwi fruit and aquatic tubers, according to the study. "The discovery challenges previous assumptions about early human adaptation," Li said in the statement. "While contemporary European sites (like Schöningen in Germany) focused on hunting large mammals, Gantangqing reveals a unique plant-based survival strategy."
South China Morning Post
04-07-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
Tools unearthed in China are first evidence of East Asia's ‘Wood Age'
The earliest tools used by humans were made of stone , followed by bronze , then iron, and finally steel. But was there a 'Wood Age'? This question has been difficult to answer as wood decomposes easily, leaving behind little evidence of ancient wooden tools – especially in East Asia. However, a study published in the top journal Science on Friday suggests that wooden tools were widely used in southwest China 300,000 years ago. These wooden tools, unearthed during excavations in 2015 and 2018, were the first ever found at a Palaeolithic – or early Stone Age – site in East Asia. The Palaeolithic age spans from around 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago. Corresponding author Gao Xing, of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told state news agency China News Service that the dozens of wooden artefacts unearthed at the Gantangqing site in Yunnan province represented a 'world-class archaeological discovery'. Gantangqing is situated at the southern edge of Fuxian Lake, near Yunnan's provincial capital, Kunming. Excavations at the site uncovered many relics, earning Gantangqing a place among China's top 10 archaeological discoveries in 2015. 'This discovery fills a gap in the study of Chinese Palaeolithic wooden tools,' said Liu Jianhui of the Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in a paper in 2015. Liu is first author of the most recent study and led the second excavation at Gantangqing in 2018.
