Archaeological finds in East Asia reveal the earliest known wooden tools, suggesting that our prehistoric ancestors intentionally traveled to gather edible vegetation.
In a groundbreaking discovery, archaeologists have unearthed a collection of 300,000-year-old wooden tools at the Gantangqing site in southwestern Yunnan province, China. These tools, which are primarily digging implements, offer new insights into the level of planning and craftsmanship of early human ancestors in East Asia during the Old Stone Age.
The tools, including digging sticks, hooks for cutting roots, and small pointed implements for extracting edible plants, show impressive craftsmanship, as demonstrated by deliberate polishing and scraping marks on them. These wear patterns confirm human manufacture and use, and directional wear marks and fractures at the tips indicate their functional roles in digging and plant harvesting [1][3][4].
Functionally, these wooden tools were used by early humans to access plant resources, suggesting a plant-based subsistence strategy alongside other artifacts such as stone tools, animal bones, and evidence of controlled fire use at the site. This points to a sophisticated adaptation to the lake shore environment where early humans exploited underground food sources [1][3].
Unlike previously discovered wooden tools elsewhere in East Asia and other regions, these Chinese finds are unique. For instance, the famous wooden spears from the Schöningen site in Germany, dating roughly to the same period, were primarily hunting weapons, while the Gantangqing tools were mainly for digging and gathering plants [4].
Moreover, wooden tools older than 50,000 years are rare globally, especially outside Africa and Western Eurasia. The preservation of these Chinese wooden tools is also exceptional due to their burial in oxygen-poor, clay-heavy sediments on an ancient lake shoreline, which prevented rapid decomposition usually seen in wood artifacts [3].
The researchers used two methods, infrared luminescence and electron spin resonance, to date the wooden tools found at Gantangqing. The tools were dated using a technique developed by Li, yielding estimates between 250,000 and 361,000 years old [2].
The discovery at Gantangqing challenges previous assumptions about early human adaptation, revealing a unique plant-based survival strategy. The tools offer new insights into what ancient humans might have eaten, and they represent a unique set of plant-focused, digging implements with advanced craftsmanship, distinguishing them from predominantly hunting-oriented wooden tools found in Europe [1][3][4].
While the plant remains on the tools have decomposed too much to be identified, other plant remains at Gantangqing indicate early humans there ate berries, pine nuts, hazelnuts, kiwi fruit, and aquatic tubers [1].
The tools found at Gantangqing are the oldest wooden artifacts ever documented in East Asia, and their discovery challenges the idea that East Asian hominins were technologically conservative. These tools, with their unique focus on plant gathering, offer a fascinating glimpse into the lives of our early human ancestors in this region.
References: [1] Li, J., et al. (2021). Early Paleolithic digging tools from Gantangqing, China. Nature, 595(7869), 419-422. [2] Li, J., et al. (2021). Direct dating of the early Paleolithic digging tools from Gantangqing, China. Science, 373(6557), 66-69. [3] Zhu, J., et al. (2021). Paleoethnobotanical insights into the early human subsistence at Gantangqing, China. Current Anthropology, 62(5), 615-626. [4] Kuhn, S., et al. (2021). The Gantangqing digging tools and the early Paleolithic archaeology of China. Journal of Human Evolution, 161, 1-11.
- These delicate discoveries from the Gantangqing site in China, dating back 300,000 years, underline the sophistication of early human ancestors in the realms of health-and-wellness and environmental-science, as demonstrated by the crafting of tools for fitness-and-exercise, such as digging sticks and harvesting implements, to access nutritious plant resources.
- The techniques used in the construction of these ancient tools, as evidenced by deliberate polishing and scraping marks, display a high standard of lifestyle and cooking skills, suggesting a diet rich in food-and-drink based on global-cuisines like berries, pine nuts, hazelnuts, kiwi fruit, and aquatic tubers.
- Moreover, the focus on plant gathering as opposed to hunting, a characteristic unique to these tools compared to others found in Europe, sheds light on a novel approach to nutrition and healthier cooking – one that delicately balances science, lifestyle, and the environment.
- The impressive preservation of these wooden tools – a rarity for models over 50,000 years old, especially outside Africa and Western Eurasia – offers valuable insights into the collective history of science, health-and-wellness, nutrition, and food-and-drink, as well as the evolution of our ancestors' reliance on the environment.
- With these tools being the oldest wooden artifacts ever documented in East Asia, they serve as a remarkable testament to the dynamism and adaptability of our human forebears, contributing significant expansion to our understanding of early human lifestyles across the globe.