430,000-Year-Old Wooden Tools Are the Oldest Ever Found

Wooden objects carrying the marks of carving and use could be the oldest wooden tools ever found. Researchers dated the artefacts, found in what is now Greece, to 430,000 years ago — and suggest they might have been made by early Neanderthals or their ancestors, Homo heidelbergensis. A separate study describes 480,000-old flint-knapping tools made from antler and elephant bone, from what is now the United Kingdom. Organic artefacts are a rare find because they’re less likely to endure than stone, and show how “bone and wood were probably more valuable for our ancient ancestors,” says archaeologist Thomas Terberger. “Imagine how many tools you can make from a single large bone of an elephant.”