Archaeologists Find 150,000-Year-Old Tools in Africa’s Rainforest—Rewriting Evolutionary History

A game-changing discovery in West Africa has revealed that humans lived in tropical rainforests at least 150,000 years ago, challenging previous assumptions about early human habitats. The discovery, detailed in a study published in Naturesuggests that rainforests played a critical role in early human survival, long before we thought humans began adapting to these environments. This finding radically shifts our understanding of human evolution and the diverse ecosystems in which early humans thrived.

A New Timeline for Human Habitation in Rainforests

The discovery has revolutionized our understanding of where early humans could live. Eslem I’m Arouslead author and archaeologist at Spain’s National Centre for Human Evolution Research, explained, “Before our study, the oldest secure evidence for habitation in African rainforests was around 18 thousand years ago, and the oldest evidence of rainforest habitation anywhere came from Southeast Asia at about 70 thousand years ago. This pushes back the oldest known evidence of humans in rainforests by more than double the previously known estimate.”

The team’s ability to re-analyze the tools with modern technology helped confirm the age of the artifacts. The Bété I site provides an important glimpse into how early Homo sapiens adapted to and thrived in environments that were previously thought to be unsuitable for human habitation.

The Impact of Cutting-Edge Technology on the Study

The excavation of the Bété I Site marked a significant milestone in the field of archaeologythanks to the use of advanced techniques. James Blinkhornan archaeologist at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology (MPI-GEA), noted: “With Professor Guédé’s help, we relocated the original trench and were able to re-investigate it using state-of-the-art methods that were not available thirty to forty years ago.” These new techniques helped the team confirm the early human presence in the rainforest and provided clarity on how humans lived in such a dense and challenging environment.

Unfortunately, the site was later destroyed by mining activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite its protected status. This loss underscores the fragile nature of archaeological preservation in the face of modern threats.

The Role of Ecological Diversity in Human Evolution

The implications of this discovery go far beyond just the age of human presence in rainforests. Professor Eleanor Scerri of MPI-GEA explained, “Convergent evolution shows beyond doubt that ecological diversity sits at the heart of our species. This reflects a complex history of population subdivision, in which different populations lived in different regions and habitat types.”

What the team discovered in their research suggests that early humans did not just adapt to one particular environment. According to Professor Scerri“What we have discovered in our results is that this view cannot be true, and for a very early stage, unexpectedly early, people were living in radically different ecosystems in Africa, the home of our species, and adapting to them.”

This insight dramatically shifts our understanding of human evolutionhighlighting that early human populations were much more ecologically diverse than previously thought, and adapted to a variety of environments far earlier than expected.

A Tragic Loss for Archaeology

The Bété I Site was designated a protected areabut despite this status, it was still lost to mining activities. Professor Scerri remarked: “The site was given protected status. Unfortunately, the loss happened regardless of this.” This highlights the ongoing struggle to balance archaeological preservation with economic development and resource extraction.

Despite this setback, the findings at the site offer a new chapter in understanding the diversity of early human life. The discovery of early humans in rainforests challenges traditional views and sets the stage for future studies to explore how our ancestors interacted with the diverse environments of Africa. These revelations provide new avenues for exploring the complexity of early human adaptation and the development of society over 150,000 years ago.