Extremely rare collection of 300,000-year-old wooden tools discovered in Germany

2024-04-11T15:51:03.477Z

Highlights: Wood, easy to handle and transform, is undoubtedly one of the materials that has been with humanity for the longest time. Spears dating back 300,000 years were notably unearthed there in the 1990s. Work published in the Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S. presents the latest discoveries from the site with 187 wooden artifacts meticulously carved. There you will find spears, weapons, but also dozens of tools not intended for hunting. It is not strictly speaking mark a turning point in the history of humanity with the sudden appearance of technology. The discovery of the tools at Schöningen, in the Land of Lower Saxony, in Germany, does not necessarily mean the arrival of technology in the region was a 'turning point' for humanity. It could be the beginning of a new era in the study of human evolution, or the end of it, depending on how you want to look at it. The findings are published in PNAS, a journal of the American Academy of Science.

Spears and dozens of other utensils miraculously preserved in peat bogs offer a rare glimpse into prehistoric, possibly Neanderthal, human societies.