Wood was, and still is, one of the most important multi-purpose and sustainable natural raw materials. It surrounds us in many kinds, from toys, tools, housing and firewood to works of art and religious objects. Findings of wooden goods are only preserved in completely dry as well as in entirely wet (underwater) environments and are therefore rare. However, the cultural history of wood utilization has not been completely written yet, but it is evident that the cultural activity of human beings was strongly linked to wood. Supported by the World Wood Day Foundation this webpage serves as a platform for the scientific community to collect, display and share early traces of wood utilization.
Explore the widespread time-line of wood culture interactively. You will not only gain knowledge on the long history of the cultural history of wood utilization, but also learn about the longevity of wooden goods and the big variety of wood utilization around the globe. All displayed objects were scientifically dated – with the help of dendrochronology or the radiocarbon method (14C) or other relevant methods - and were compiled by the large community of scientists dealing with former wood utilization. Come back to this website in future as the list of the world’s oldest wooden objects is still enlarging and a matter of change.
The list of the world’s oldest wooden objects is beeing compiled by a large international community of scientists dealing with former wood utilization from a variety of fields. It’s not intended to set up an exhaustive database of all dated man-made wooden objects but rather to display the oldest ones for each region and object type (but not subfossile wood, which isn’t linked to former wood utilization). To get verified, the supplied object either has to be scientifically published or to be dated by an acknowledged institution. If you, or your laboratory, have an object to contribute to the collection we would be happy if you contact us or use our data entry form.
Click here to contribute to the list of the world’s oldest wooden objects.