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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.

The “extremely rare” wooden tools, which appear in varieties of forms and functions, were extracted from layers dating to around 300,000 years old, scientists say.

Until now, only two previously known discoveries have been made of wooden tools from this period – one in Europe and one in Africa.

Wooden tools from Gantangqing ( Liu et al./Science )

Two of the newly uncovered sticks appeared similar to those found at Italy’s Poggetti Vecchi site, dating to 171,000 years old.

Four unique hook-shaped tools were also uncovered and were likely used for cutting roots, scientists say.

Researchers also found signs of deliberate polishing on the wooden tools, scraping marks and soil residues on the tool edges, indicating they were used for digging underground plants such as tubers and roots.

“The wooden implements include digging sticks and small, complete, hand-held pointed tools,” scientists wrote.

Based on these findings, scientists suspect these East Asian human ancestors likely followed a plant-based diet, with evidence of pine nuts, hazelnuts, kiwi fruit and aquatic tubers found at the site.

In comparison, the wooden tools uncovered in Europe and Africa were hunting implements, spears, and spear tips.

“The discovery challenges previous assumptions about early human adaptation. While contemporary European sites (like Schöningen in Germany) focused on hunting large mammals, Gantangqing reveals a unique plant-based survival strategy in the subtropics,” said archaeologist Bo Li, a co-author of the study.

“The diversity and sophistication of the wooden tools also fill a significant gap in the archaeological record, as pre-100,000-year-old wooden tools are extremely rare outside Africa and Western Eurasia,” Dr Li said.

The discovery reveals that wooden tools were in use by early humans living in a much wider range across the globe.

It also suggests that prehistoric cultures living in different environments developed tools useful to them locally.