Overview
- One artifact is an 81-centimeter alder stick worked to remove branches and form a grip, with frayed wear indicating use as a digging implement in wet sediment.
- The second piece, a 5.7–8-centimeter fragment of willow or poplar, shows deliberate shaping yet its function remains unresolved, representing a previously unknown tool type.
- Site chronology was established by paleomagnetism and luminescence on surrounding sediments, as the wood itself cannot be directly dated.
- Waterlogged, low-oxygen deposits in a lignite mine preserved rare organics alongside more than 2,000 stone tools, a butchered straight‑tusked elephant and evidence of large carnivores.
- No hominin bones were recovered, leaving the makers unidentified, but surface microscopy, CT scans and species identification distinguish human modification from animal or environmental damage.