Archaeologists have uncovered the earliest known hand-held wooden tools ever used by humans, and the discovery is changing what we know about early technology.
Found at the Marathousa 1 site in central Greece, the tools date back around 430,000 years, making them at least 40,000 years older than any similar wooden tools previously discovered.
The international study was jointly led by Professor Katerina Harvati of the University of Tübingen and Dr. Annemieke Milks of the University of Reading.
The research was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and involved experts from several European and international institutions.
The discoveries consist of two small wooden objects that were clearly shaped and used by early humans. One was made from alder wood, while the other came from willow or poplar.
These materials were carefully selected and modified, showing that early humans understood the properties of different types of wood and how to work with them.
The Marathousa 1 site was once located on the shore of a lake during the Middle Pleistocene, a period spanning roughly 774,000 to 129,000 years ago.
Stone tools and the remains of animals, including an elephant, suggest that the area was used for butchering and food processing. The wooden tools were found alongside these remains, pointing to a wide range of activities carried out by early humans at the site.
Wooden tools are extremely rare in the archaeological record because wood usually decays long before it can fossilize.
Dr. Milks explains that special environmental conditions are required for wood to survive for hundreds of thousands of years. At Marathousa 1, waterlogged sediments helped preserve the wooden objects, allowing researchers to study them in remarkable detail.
Using microscopes, the team closely examined all wooden fragments recovered from the site. Two of them showed clear signs of human workmanship, including chopping and carving marks, as well as microscopic damage caused by use.
One of the tools, made from alder, appears to have been shaped from a small trunk and may have been used for digging near the lake or stripping bark from trees. The second tool, made from willow or poplar, is smaller but also shows signs of shaping and possible use.
A third wooden piece initially raised questions but was later identified as a tree trunk marked by the claws of a large carnivore, possibly a bear, rather than human tools. This discovery highlights the close and sometimes dangerous overlap between human activity and large predators at the site.
Until now, the oldest known wooden tools came from places such as Germany, the United Kingdom, Zambia, and China, but all were significantly younger than the Greek finds.
While an even older piece of worked wood was discovered at Kalambo Falls in Zambia, dating to about 476,000 years ago, that object appears to have been used as part of a structure rather than as a hand-held tool.
According to Professor Harvati, the Marathousa 1 discoveries offer rare insight into a critical phase of human evolution, when more complex behaviors and technologies were emerging. The tools not only extend the timeline of wooden technology but also show that early humans in southeastern Europe were skilled, adaptable, and competing directly with powerful animals for resources.
Together, these ancient wooden tools provide a vivid glimpse into everyday life nearly half a million years ago and remind us that early human innovation extended far beyond stone.
