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3w ago

300,000-Year-Old Wooden Tools from China Overturn East Asian Paleolithic Narratives

Built by Middle Pleistocene hominins, these sophisticated implements challenge views of East Asian technological lag, prompting further digs to nail down their origins.

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Crafted mostly from coniferous trees, 70 percent of the tools were made from pine wood. (Representational image)

Overview

  • A Science publication on July 3 details 35 intentionally shaped wooden implements from Gantangqing as the earliest complex wooden technology in East Asia.
  • Multiple dating methods—infrared stimulated luminescence, mammal tooth analysis and feldspar assays—date the artifacts to between 361,000 and 250,000 years ago.
  • Wear patterns, scraping marks and plant residue show the tools were purpose-made for digging up and processing underground tubers and other vegetation.
  • The assemblage overturns assumptions of technological conservatism in Middle Pleistocene East Asia by revealing advanced woodworking skills.
  • Researchers plan targeted excavations of deeper site layers near Fuxian Lake to refine the attribution of these tools, with Denisovans as the leading candidates.