近日，英国利物浦大学教授  Barham, L. 及其小组提出了至少476,000 年前有关木材结构用途的证据。该项研究成果发表在2023年9月20日出版的《自然》上。

赞比亚卡兰博瀑布考古遗址中的涝渍沉积物中，保存了两根互锁的圆木，圆木通过一个有意切割的凹口横向连接，研究人员对圆木进行了冷光测定，认为其至少可以追溯到 476±23 kyr 以前(ka )。这种结构在非洲或欧亚旧石器时代没有已知的相似物。已知最早的木制人工制品是来自以色列 Gesher Benot Ya'aqov 的阿舍利遗址的一块抛光木板碎片，距今已有 780 ka 有余。用于觅食和狩猎的木制工具出现在 40 万年前的欧洲、中国，可能还有非洲。

在卡兰博，研究人员还发现了 4 件距今 390 ka 至 324 ka 的木制工具，包括一个楔子、挖掘棒、圆木和带缺口的树枝。这些发现显示了人们意想不到的早期形态多样性，以及将树干塑造成大型组合结构的能力。这些新数据不仅扩大了非洲木工的年龄范围，而且扩展了人们对早期人类技术认知的理解，迫使人们重新审视树木在技术史上的作用。

据悉，木制工艺品很少能从早期石器时代保存下来，因为它们需要特定的保存条件；因此，研究人员获取人类何时以及如何使用这种基本原材料的信息有限。研究报道了考古记录中，有关木材结构用途的最早证据。

附：英文原文

Title: Evidence for the earliest structural use of wood at least 476,000 years ago

Author: Barham, L., Duller, G. A. T., Candy, I., Scott, C., Cartwright, C. R., Peterson, J. R., Kabukcu, C., Chapot, M. S., Melia, F., Rots, V., George, N., Taipale, N., Gethin, P., Nkombwe, P.

Issue&Volume: 2023-09-20

Abstract: Wood artefacts rarely survive from the Early Stone Age since they require exceptional conditions for preservation; consequently, we have limited information about when and how hominins used this basic raw material. We report here on the earliest evidence for structural use of wood in the archaeological record. Waterlogged deposits at the archaeological site of Kalambo Falls, Zambia, dated by luminescence to at least 476±23 kyr ago (ka), preserved two interlocking logs joined transversely by an intentionally cut notch. This construction has no known parallels in the African or Eurasian Palaeolithic. The earliest known wood artefact is a fragment of polished plank from the Acheulean site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel, more than 780 ka. Wooden tools for foraging and hunting appear 400 ka in Europe, China and possibly Africa. At Kalambo we also recovered four wood tools from 390 ka to 324 ka, including a wedge, digging stick, cut log and notched branch. The finds show an unexpected early diversity of forms and the capacity to shape tree trunks into large combined structures. These new data not only extend the age range of woodworking in Africa but expand our understanding of the technical cognition of early hominins, forcing re-examination of the use of trees in the history of technology.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06557-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06557-9