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Oldest Wooden Structure in the World Found in Czech Republic

A research team in the Czech Republic unearthed a box-like wooden structure used in the building of an old well.
A research team in the Czech Republic unearthed a box-like wooden structure used in the building of an old well.
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Oldest Wooden Structure in the World Found in Czech Republic

A research team in the Czech Republic unearthed a box-like wooden structure used in the building of an old well.
A research team in the Czech Republic unearthed a box-like wooden structure used in the building of an old well.

A research team in the Czech Republic unearthed a box-like wooden structure used in the building of an old well.

The tree-ring dating technique has revealed that the oak wood used to make it was cut around 7,275 years ago. This makes it the oldest known wooden structure in the world, scientists say.

According to the study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the researchers used the tree rings and the radiocarbon dating techniques to determine the structure's age.

The age of a tree can be determined based on the rings or the annual growth layers of the trunk and roots' stems. It can be calculated by dividing the trunk's diameter by the tree's growth factor according to its type, and then multiplying the obtained result with the trunk's circumference. The final result would be the tree's age. Experts may also use the Radiocarbon dating technique known as "carbon-14 dating", which uses the radioactive properties of radiocarbon.

In a report published on the Science Alert website, Archaeologist Jaroslav Peška of the Archaeological Centre Olomouc in the Czech Republic, and the study's senior author said: "According to our findings, based particularly on dendrochronological data, we can say that the tree trunks for the wood used were felled in the year 5255 BCE. Some side wooden planks seemed a little bit younger."

The researchers suggested that the trees were felled 7,244 to 7,261 years ago, and the smaller planks were used in repairing the well at some point.

The well was unearthed and discovered near the town of Ostrov in 2018 during construction on the motorway in the Czech Republic.

Ceramic fragments found inside the well dated the site to the early Neolithic, but no evidence of any settlement structures were found nearby, suggesting the well serviced several settlements at a bit of a distance away.

The discovered structure consisted of four oak poles, one at each corner, with flat planks between them. The well was roughly square, measuring 80 by 80 centimeters (2.62 feet). It stood 140 centimeters tall (4.6 feet), with a shaft that extended below ground level and into the groundwater.

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Ethiopia's Vast Lake Being Pumped Dry

Lake Dembel's depth has halved since 1990 due to over-pumping. Marco Simoncelli / AFP
Lake Dembel's depth has halved since 1990 due to over-pumping. Marco Simoncelli / AFP
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Ethiopia's Vast Lake Being Pumped Dry

Lake Dembel's depth has halved since 1990 due to over-pumping. Marco Simoncelli / AFP
Lake Dembel's depth has halved since 1990 due to over-pumping. Marco Simoncelli / AFP

There is a constant hum around Ethiopia's enormous Lake Dembel -- the sound of its water steadily being sucked out by pumps.

The pumps irrigate farms all around the lake, which is four times the size of Manhattan, and are vital for hundreds of thousands of people, AFP said.

Ethiopia has already lost at least one large lake -- Haramaya, in the east of the country -- to over-pumping.

Now it risks losing another.

Lake Dembel's depth has halved since 1990 from four meters to two (13 feet to over six), according to Wetlands International, an NGO.

"If things continue like this, the lake could disappear," said its project manager Desalegn Regassa.

Pumping by farmers and industry is not the lake's only problem. Heavy pesticide use is also killing its fish, locals and the NGO say.

Belachew Derib has been fishing the lake since the 1980s but says stocks are disappearing.

"I built my house thanks to the income from fishing and support my three children through this work," Belachew, 60, told AFP as he rowed his small boat out to pull up his nets.

"Previously, we could catch 20 to 30 fish a day. Nowadays, young fishermen are lucky to catch two or three," he said.

Just a few dozen meters (yards) from the shore, AFP found Habib Bobasso, 35, liberally covering his small onion plot with pesticides from a pump strapped to his back.

"There are many worms that can damage the plants... we could lose the entire harvest," he said as he sprayed, with just a shawl to cover his face.

He knows the pesticides are harmful but sees no alternative.

"The fertilizers and pesticides we use degrade the soil. We spend too much money on fertilizers and chemicals for a low yield," he said.

Degradation

Water management is essential for Ethiopia, a land-locked giant in east Africa with a rapidly growing population already estimated at more than 130 million and often hit by droughts.

But a lack of funds and government oversight has allowed bad practices to continue for decades.

A recent report by the Stockholm International Water Institute blamed Ethiopia's "lackluster policy frameworks" for "the demise of Lake Haramaya, the shrinking of Lake Abijata (and) the pollution of Awash River and Ziway and Hawassa Lakes."

Lately, the government has shown signs it is taking the problem seriously.

It passed a law earlier this year imposing a fee to extract water from Lake Dembel, which lies around 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of the capital Addis Ababa.

A local official, Andualem Gezahegne, told AFP he hoped this would curtail the pumps.

It cannot come too soon -- Wetlands International said there were some 6,000 pumps installed around the lake last year, running 24 hours a day, and "maybe more today".

AFP witnessed two huge tanker trucks filling up for a nearby highway project during a recent visit.

Keeping fishing under control is another challenge, said Andualem.

"Unfortunately, the peak fishing activity coincides with the fish spawning periods, from January to May," he said.

On the surface, the lake is still full of life -- from hippos to marabou storks.

But as the fishermen head out at dawn, the steady hum of the pumps strikes an ominous note for the future.