Rare 300,000-year-old wooden tools found in China reveal diet secrets of early humans

[Judi Lynn]

Until now, only two discoveries have been made of wooden tools from this period

Vishwam Sankaran
Friday 04 July 2025 11:14 BST

A trove of rare 300,000-year-old wooden tools unearthed in south-west China reveals that early humans in the region may have relied heavily on underground plants like roots and tubers for sustenance.

The findings, published on Thursday in the journal Science, throw light on the advanced cognitive skills of early human ancestors in East Asia and their lives, diet, and environment.

This rare find was made due to the wooden tools being preserved in oxygen-deprived clay sediments at the archaeological lakeshore site of Gantangqing in Jiangchuan, Yunnan province.

Researchers also found nearly 1,000 organic remains among the sediments.

Using advanced techniques, scientists dated the uncovered remains to establish the age of the tools between 250,000-350,000 years old.

More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/early-humans-tools-diet-china-b2782613.html

[True Dough]

1. Rare?

I have a garage full of 300,000-year-old tools! Maybe a different brand name.

[Tadpole Raisin]

2. The people who fashioned those tools would have been the

entrepreneurs of today. To have imagined and created those tools in the absence of any guidance required an intelligence I so admire.

Yes necessity is the mother of invention but still my admiration is pretty high.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Rare wooden tools from Stone Age China reveal plant-based lifestyle of ancient lakeside humans

Published: July 3, 2025 2:14pm EDT

Ancient wooden tools found at a site in Gantangqing in southwestern China are approximately 300,000 years old, new dating has shown. Discovered during excavations carried out in 2014–15 and 2018–19, the tools have now been dated by a team of archaeologists, geologists, chronologists (including me) and paleontologists.

The rare wooden tools were found alongside an assortment of animal and plant fossils and stone artifacts.

Taken together, the finds suggest the early humans at Gantangqing were surprisingly sophisticated woodworkers who lived in a rich tropical or subtropical environment where they subsisted by harvesting plants from a nearby lake.

Why ancient wooden tools are so rare
Wood usually decomposes relatively rapidly due to microbial activity, oxidation, and weathering. Unlike stone or bone, it rarely survives more than a few centuries.

Wood can only survive for thousands of years or longer if it ends up buried in unusual conditions. Wood can last a long time in oxygen-free environments or extremely dry areas. Charred or fire-hardened wood is also more durable.

At Gantangqing, the wooden objects were excavated from low-oxygen clay-heavy layers of sediment formed on the ancient shoreline of Fuxian Lake.

More:
https://theconversation.com/rare-wooden-tools-from-stone-age-china-reveal-plant-based-lifestyle-of-ancient-lakeside-humans-260204