The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Why Stone Age could well be called ‘Wood Age’: Evidence from study
A study of prehistoric wooden arte facts from Schöningen, Germany has indicated that these were not simply“sharpened sticks” but “technologically advanced tools” which required skill, precision, and time to build.
“In total, 187 wooden artefacts could be identified… demonstrating abroad spectrum of wood-working techniques” including“splitting, scraping or abrasion”, the research paper, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in
April, said. The oldest of these artefacts were dated to roughly 400,000 years ago, well before modern Homo sapiens walked on Earth.
Periodising prehistory
Technically, human ‘history’ began with the advent of writing. Everything before that is ‘prehistory’, studied primarily using archaeological evidence (physical remains) and, to a lesser extent, ethnographic research (study of human cultures, communities).
In the 19th century, Danish archaeologist Christian Jürgensen Thomsen came up with the Stone Age-bronze Age-iron Age classification of human prehistory, which has since risen to the status of dogma in the discipline, even though modern scholars have made refinements to reflect regional variations.
The stone age began when hominids first picked up stone tools, some 3.4 million years ago, in modern-day Ethiopia, and went on till about 6,000-4,000 BP (Before Present). It comprises 99% of human history, and is further divided into three periods — Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age), Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age, ), and Neolithic (New Stone Age).
The Palaeolithic period, which went on till about 11,650 BP in some places, is characterised by the use of rudimentary stone tools, and a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. The Mesolithic period is a transitional phase. The Neolithic period, which first began roughly 12,000 BP in West Asia, is characterised by the development of settled agriculture, and the domestication of animals.
Preservation bias
Archaeological evidence forms the basis of the Stone Age classification — excavated sites from this period have unearthed stone tools of varying degrees of sophistication, which provide an insight into the lives and capabilities of their users.
These capabilities, however, were not just limited to stone. Stone Age sites also show evidence of the use of bones and antlers, clay, and metal (very limited). Evidence of woodworking, however, has been much more scarce, even though wood would have likely been an abundant resource.
Of the thousands of archaeological sites that can be traced to the Lower Palaeolithic (up to around 200,000 BP), wood has been recovered from less than 10, according to a report by The New York Times. The earliest evidenceof the use of wood, seen in the form of wooden dwellings, has been dated to only 700,000 BP — over two and a half million years after the earliest evidence of stone tools.
But this does not mean that wood was not used. Study co-author Thomas Teberger told The NYT: “We can probably assume that wooden tools have been around just as long as stone ones… But since wood deteriorates and rarely survives, preservation bias distorts our view of antiquity.”
What Schöningen reveals
This is why the finds in Schöningen are important. Due to the damp and oxygenless conditions of the peatland’s soil, organic matter could not decompose — leading to the most well-preserved assemblage of prehistoric wooden artefacts in the world.
“Schöningen stands out due to its number and variety of wooden tools…a minimum of 20 hunting weapons is now recognised and two newly identified artefact types comprise 35 tools made on split woods, which were likely used in domestic activities,” the study said.
In the mid-1990s, archaeologist Hartmut Thieme discovered three wooden spears, along with stone tools and the butchered remains of more than 10 wild horses, dated to around 400,000 years ago. This discovery of the world’s oldest preserved hunting weapons catapulted Schöningen and Thieme to global fame by upending the prevailing consensus that humans lived as simple scavengers till as recently as 40,000 years ago.
“... [T]he spears strongly suggest that systematic hunting, involving foresight, planning and the use of appropriate technology, was part of the behaviour al repertoire of pr em ode rn hominids …[ This] may mean that many current theories on early human behaviour and culture must be revised,” Thieme wrote in his paper ‘Lower palaeolithic hunting spears from Germany’ (1997).
The new study sh one light on the technological complexity of Schöningen’s wooden arte facts. using3-d microscopy( multiple sets of images taken from a range of viewing angles and collated and digitally constructed into a three-dimensional figure) and microct scanners (CT scanners with micron — one millionth of a metre — resolution), researchers studied signs of wear or cut marks.
For instance, “until now, splitting wood was thought to have been only practised by modern humans,” Dirk Leder, the paper’s lead author, told The NYT.
Some spears points showed indications of being resharpened after breakage. “The... working debris suggested that tools were repaired and recycled into new tools for other tasks,” co-author Annemieke Milks said.