The archaeological landscape is rarely static. Discoveries continuously shift our understanding of the past, forcing us to redraw the boundaries of what we thought was possible or likely. A recent find on ancient woodworkings at Kalambo Falls, Zambia, is a prime example – it introduces us to early hominin builders with unexpected skills, operating long before the rise of Homo sapiens.

Kalambo falls

The unique conditions at Kalambo Falls were instrumental in the extraordinary preservation of ancient woodworking artifacts.

The site’s lush vegetation, sustained by a reliable water source, provided the necessities of life, making it a consistently appealing location for various hominin species across vast stretches of time. This long-term occupation increased the likelihood of artifacts being left behind.

Periodic flooding events deposited layers of sediment that protected these precious remnants from decay and the ravages of time. The layered deposits act as a natural time capsule. They enable scientists to create a chronological framework and associate artifacts with specific periods in prehistory.

Ancient woodworking

Two interlocking logs, each exceeding a meter in length, form the foundation of this study. These wooden artifacts offer a multitude of clues about our ancient ancestors.

The wood used in the logs has been identified as bushwillow, a species common to the African savannah. This provides valuable information about the types of plants and resources that were accessible to hominins in the region.

The logs exhibit clear signs of modification, including notching, tapered ends, scraping, and potential evidence of burning. These features suggest someone deliberately manipulated the wood using techniques rarely observed in artifacts from this early time period.

The intentional notches on the logs indicate designers made them to assemble into a larger structure. This structure could have served as a platform, shelter, or another type of construction that archaeologists are still trying to identify.

The level of skill required to modify and assemble these logs indicates that these early hominins possessed greater cognitive abilities and technological sophistication than previously believed. These findings challenge traditional perceptions of these ancient humans and their skillsets.

Precise dating of ancient woodworking

Determining the precise age of the wooden structure was essential to understanding its significance. To achieve this, scientists turned to the unique geological features of Kalambo Falls and employed a specialized dating technique called Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL).

IRSL targets specific minerals like feldspar, commonly found within sediment layers. These minerals contain a natural ‘clock’ affected by background radiation.

Over time, the minerals accumulate energy due to the constant, low-level radiation present in the environment. However, exposure to sunlight resets this natural clock.

By measuring the amount of energy trapped within the feldspar crystals since they were last exposed to sunlight, scientists can determine how long the sediment layers (and the artifacts within them) have been buried.

IRSL analysis revealed a truly astonishing result: the wooden structure at Kalambo Falls was constructed approximately 476,000 years ago. This places the structure’s creation firmly within the Middle Pleistocene, a fascinating epoch of early human evolution.

Who were the builders?

The age of the structure, determined at approximately 476,000 years old, has profound implications. This places its construction well before the emergence of our own species, Homo sapiens.

The fact that hominins built a structure during this earlier period forces us to reevaluate our understanding of their capabilities.

Researchers theorize that the impressive skill and knowledge required for this kind of woodworking must have been possessed by a different hominin species. This opens up a fascinating line of inquiry as scientists consider possible candidates.

Species like Homo heidelbergensis, known to have existed during this era, become a likely possibility. However, an even older, yet-to-be-discovered hominin ancestor could also be responsible for this astonishing feat.

Implications of ancient woodworking

The term “Stone Age” carries the connotation of simple tools and a focus on bare survival. However, the discovery of a complex wooden structure forces us to reconsider this definition.

Moreover, sophisticated woodworking and construction indicate a level of technological advancement that extends beyond stone toolmaking, suggesting a much richer toolkit and broader knowledge base than previously assumed.

This structure was not merely a makeshift solution for immediate needs. The time, effort, and skill invested in its creation point to deliberate action and a desire to modify the environment for a specific purpose.

It reflects a level of planning and forethought that transcends simple survival instincts, suggesting a more complex thought process and perhaps even long-term goals.

The coordination necessary to create such a structure hints at a developed form of social organization and communication.

Hominins would likely need to work together, share knowledge, and possibly even have some form of leadership to execute this project.

This finding emphasizes that human ingenuity, inventiveness, and collaborative skills have deep roots stretching back far further than we once believed.

“These people were doing something new, and large, from wood. They used their intelligence, imagination, and skills to create something they’d never seen before, something that had never previously existed,” noted Larry Barham, the lead archaeologist.

Their work underscores the adaptability of our lineage and opens doors to further research about the dawn of human ingenuity.

This research was published in Nature.

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Skies around the world have shone with extraordinary colours overnight due to a rare solar weather event.

The aurora borealis and australis — the northern and southern lights — stunned those who ventured outside to take in the views, and provided amateur photographers with the opportunity to take some truly spectacular pictures.

A geomagnetic storm of a strength not seen for two decades was behind the phenomena.

Here is a selection of some of the most stunning displays.

Aurora australis

Photographer Sean O'Riordan, who was visiting Tasmania, said he was lucky enough to photograph the aurora before flying to Brisbane on Saturday.

"I was literally on the beach shooting and I had to wrap up and run back to the camper, pack my bag, change and get to the airport," Mr O'Riordan said.

He said the colours were visible to the naked eye.

"You could see the pillars and the beams that were rising off it, which was incredible," he said.

"I've never seen anything like it before. There was just a mash of red, green pink."

Aurora borealis

I don’t want to alarm anyone, but if my calculations are correct, it seems we are entering a sapphic-heavy cultural moment.

I’ve been a lesbian for several decades, and at no point in my memory have I ever seen such a saturation (the collective noun) of queer women in pop culture. A Homo-moment, if you will. It feels like it all kicked off with the Women’s World Cup last year, which drew the gaze of thousands of queer women to Australia.

Now we are saturating the rest of culture. There’s always been a sprinkling here and there of course, but it’s never really been fashionable to be a lesbian before now. I don’t mean clothes-wise; I still exclusively wear jorts. But it feels like queer women are having a “moment”.

As they say in Derry Girls (imagine the accent): “You can’t move for lesbians. It’s wall-to-wall lesbians out there!”

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You’ve got Kristen Stewart embracing her queerness more than ever before in the very fun and gay Love Lies Bleeding, alongside smaller but specifically queer women-driven comedies like Bottoms and Drive Away Dolls. Danni Minogue is in on it too, hosting the new reality dating show I Kissed A Girl. For once, we are allowed to be seen having fun, and it feels like the spotlight is on full blast.

Rising singer and actor Reneé Rapp, who played Regina George in last year’s Mean Girls remake, is an outspoken and flirty lesbian who just had original cast members of The L Word introduce her at the California festival Coachella. Billie Eilish, one of the biggest pop stars in the world, previewed her latest song Lunch, with the lyrics “I could eat that girl for lunch / Yeah, she dances on my tongue / Tastes like she may be the one / And I can never get enough”. Then there’s 26-year-old Chappell Roan and her breakthrough song Good Luck, Babe!, which has become unexpectedly important to me.

Although I’ve been an incredibly well-adjusted and out lesbian woman for ages now, there is a part of me that finds the sudden inclusion of queerness into widespread culture in recent years slightly complicated. On the one hand (the MUCH bigger hand, a freakishly large hand), this has been wonderful and heartwarming to witness. I’m so deeply glad that younger queers can grow up with a much broader view of what’s possible.

On the other teeny tiny baby hand, I’m jealous and a bit sad for people my age and older, who didn’t grow up with all of that.

Of course, queer women have always been releasing music and breaking down barriers.

Like every good closeted lesbian using her family’s one computer in the late 90s, I hunted down everything I could. I became obsessed with Ani DiFranco because she was the first artist I heard singing about women. I was horny for the open swagger of Meshell Ndegeocello, and for kd lang’s voice and that photo of her getting shaved by Cindy Crawford. More recently, we’ve had artists like Hayley Kiyoko and Janelle Monáe expressing their gender and sexuality with some very hot songs. It’s always existed, but I’ve always had to look hard for the music I relate to. Then I heard Roan’s Good Luck, Babe! Unlike most other queer songs that are important in my life, this one found me.

She sings:

You can kiss a hundred boys in bars

Shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling

You can say it’s just the way you are

Make a new excuse, another stupid reason

Good luck, babe, well, good luck, babe,

You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling

It’s about a woman denying her queer feelings and living her life as prescribed: with a man. It’s a certified banger about the concept of compulsory heterosexuality. It’s some sort of musical miracle, like an indie rock hit about polyamory. Roan herself says it’s about “someone who is denying fate”.

Like, I’m sure, many queer women out there, the specificity of this song hit me hard. Right in the lesbian guts (like cows, we have a second stomach). When I was 19 and closeted and living in regional Queensland, I had the beginnings of a secret romance with another also-closeted woman. She froze me out, and I had to watch as she hooked up with a guy in front of me. It destroyed me.

I have no idea if she regrets that now, but I do think she regretted it even then. This Chappell Roan song, with its similar storyline, took me immediately back to that time, to that disgusting bar and the Tequila Sunrise in my hand, in a way that’s never happened. In a good way – a way I didn’t even know I needed. Perhaps it’s obvious to say it, but music helps you process things, and I’ve never done that for those particular feelings.

Straight people have always had access to relatable songs about all sorts of things; they can pour out their emotions in the bedroom, or on stage at karaoke, crying until security is called. It hasn’t been that easy for me.

Now, a huge pop song is being performed at Coachella by a popular and cool queer artist, about the effects of compulsory heterosexuality, and its life-changing effect. It’s so deeply specific, but so heart wrenchingly familiar to many of us. It speaks precisely to feelings and experiences I have written about, talked about, cried about, but have never been able to process this way before. Even though I am very far from 19, very openly gay, very happy with my girlfriend, and very over it, this song has been cathartic.

To be able to sing along with Roan about the exact emotions experienced in this niche situation has been healing. Of course I’ve related to songs before, but I’ve always had to do some adjustment in my head. They don’t feel quite right, like wrong-sized jorts. Or it’s me in my bedroom listening to a sad lesbian song. Roan’s song fits like a gay glove. It’s about heartbreak and sadness, but it’s joyous, spirited, and a bit smug. It’s a celebration of the choice to be yourself. It’s affirming, even for someone many years older than Roan. The song was a salve for an unhealed wound, and helped me realise I shouldn’t be jealous of what the young people have – because I still need it too.