Kalambo Falls interlocking log structure
Estructura de troncos ensamblados de Kalambo Falls
- Date
- c. 476 ka · confidence medium
- Place
- Kalambo Falls, Mbala, Zambia
- Credited to
- Middle Pleistocene hominins (species undetermined)
- Field
- Tools
What it is
Two logs joined crosswise by a deliberately carved notch, preserved by water on the riverbank. It is the oldest known worked-wood structure and the first evidence that hominins modified their environment with joined pieces.
Luminescence dating published by Barham et al. (Nature, 2023). Its exact function (platform, walkway or shelter base) is uncertain; the same level yielded digging sticks and wooden wedges.
What it led to
- a reconsideration of technical complexity before Homo sapiens
- platforms or foundations on wet ground
- evidence of carpentry using notch-cutting