Archaeologists in Zambia have uncovered a wooden structure dating back about 476,000 years to the Early Stone Age or Pleistocene Epoch. It represents the earliest known use of wood in construction by human ancestors. The discovery at Kalambo Falls expands scientists’ understanding of the technical abilities early hominins must have had in order to shape tree trunks into large combined structures. The findings are detailed in a study published September 20 in the journal Nature. The structure itself predates the evolution of our own species (Homo sapiens) by potentially over 120,000 years. 

Kalambo Falls is a 772-foot-tall waterfall that sits on the border of Zambia and Tanzania and is the second highest uninterrupted waterfall on the African continent. The wooden structure found there in 2019 includes two preserved interlocking logs joined side-to-side by an intentionally cut notch. The upper log appears to have been purposefully shaped and tool marks were found on both logs and a collection of wooden tools was also found.

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