World's Oldest Wooden Water Wells Discovered

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World's Oldest Wooden Water Wells Discovered

Posted by timothy on Sunday December 23, 2012 @10:14PM from the they-were-just-lying-there dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Researchers have discovered four wooden water wells in the Greater Leipzig region, Germany, which are believed to be the oldest known timber constructions in the world. A team of experts led by Willy Tegel and Dr. Dietrich Hakelberg from the Institute of Forest Growth of the University of Freiburg, Germany, uncovered the wells built during the early Neolithic period between the years 5206 and 5098 B.C." The (quite short) paper itself, and some cool pictures of the artifacts, are freely available.

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Wooden Water Well by MrKaos · 2012-12-23 22:35 · Score: 3, Funny

Thus solving the mystery of neolithic web access.

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My ism, it's full of beliefs.
This isn't Verbo City! by Mister+Liberty · 2012-12-23 23:16 · Score: 2

So you typed all that in didn't you.
I had mod points but I'm going instead to tell you
this is slashdot. Slash! Period.
Oldest known - definitely not oldest ever made by wvmarle · 2012-12-23 23:29 · Score: 4, Informative

Just had a look at the photos and I'm convinced this is not a first time invention. This must be the result of a lot of previous attempts, just looking at how the wooden parts are connected: pin in hole, and another pin to prevent it from falling out again. That's technology that's still being used in wood construction.
Very likely these people were building wells and other wood constructions for quite some time already., this looks rather advanced It's just that wood doesn't preserve very well, so most will be lost by now., and we don't have any older and more primitive examples of such construction.
No surprise though that what is found is a well, as wells are of course rather like to fill up with dirt and end up under water, preserving the wood.
1. Re:Oldest known - definitely not oldest ever made by jittles · 2012-12-24 02:03 · Score: 2
  
  No surprise though that what is found is a well, as wells are of course rather like to fill up with dirt and end up under water, preserving the wood.
  Dirt and water touching wood is about the worst possible combination you could have. If you've ever put in a fence or any other outdoor wooden structure, you know that the most important thing to do is to make sure that you poor cement into the post holes, and that the cement completely envelops the wood so it doesn't touch the dirt. Otherwise, you will get bugs and other such creatures attacking the wood from below. It will also rot faster as well.
  Now it could be that they had some technique to avoid pest infestation and rot, or it could just be that the hole was deep enough that the bugs didn't typically hang out as low as the wood went, I don't know. But in general water + dirt + wood don't mix well!
2. Re:Oldest known - definitely not oldest ever made by jellomizer · 2012-12-24 02:21 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  There is a common misconception that ancient people were not smart, or talented.
  They are just like people today, they have a problem to solve they will invent a method to solve it.
  Many of the scientific advancements happened by accident. Finding the some rocks melt and create a shiny strong metal, once they found out metal, they rather quickly put it to use.
  Before that they mixed hide wood and stone to make many tools that are rather useful.
  The biggest advancements were due to rises of large cultures and cities, that allowed people to obtain time, and resources to make grander things. However it, isn't that the ancient people were too stupid to not building a grand building, but they weren't in a large enough culture to have resources shared to give them free time to go and create such a device. A well would probably take days or weeks of digging, and reinforcing, it probably took a coordinated effort where the labors were to get some extra food for their work, that they didn't hunt themselves, or they choose to do a little less hunting every day and sacrificed to make a well that will give them constant water supply.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
3. Re:Oldest known - definitely not oldest ever made by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-24 02:38 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  "Dirt and water touching wood is about the worst possible combination you could have."
  Yes and no, The reason why wood degrades in the situation you are referring to is that there is a boundary layer between the dry & wet portions of the wood, giving insects, bacteria & various fungus an environment to flourish. Kind of like having a food source (corn, wheat, etc) and a water source (lake, creek, river) close together for animals. If you completely submerge the wood you remove one or more of the essential elements in making the wood a survivable environment. Think of it like locking an animal in a room with a massive amount of food, sure it will consume some of it but within a few days it'll die and the rest of will remain as long as the environment is sealed.
4. Re:Oldest known - definitely not oldest ever made by Azghoul · 2012-12-24 02:59 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  I was just thinking the same thing (particularly the pinned tenon joints) and it pretty much blew my mind.
  Something good to talk about with fellow woodworking relatives over the next couple days of endless family time!
Well, well, well... by Richy_T · 2012-12-24 00:20 · Score: 2

Err, well.
Re:It could be built by the neanderthals by Fusselwurm · 2012-12-24 00:57 · Score: 2

Neanderthal were still plentiful in Europe around 7K to 5K BC
No, they were not. Neanderthals died out about 25ka ago.
Please note by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-24 01:21 · Score: 3, Insightful

"The (quite short) paper itself..."
Big on data, small on bullshit = actual science.
Re:It could be built by the neanderthals by Sulphur · 2012-12-24 04:17 · Score: 2

Geico thought the Neanderthals had died out too, but they were proved wrong.
Anyway wouldn't the earliest surviving wells be made of stone
Of course, but the earliest surviving wooden wells ...
Re:It could be built by the neanderthals by Fusselwurm · 2012-12-24 05:10 · Score: 2

Has the timeline been changed by better archaeology or dating, or reclassification of remains? when I was at school (only 2 decades ago, in the UK) I was taught that the last Neanderthals died out around the time of the construction of the Pyramids in Egypt, no more than 6000 years ago
Just asked my sis (who sports a B.A. in prehistoric archaeology )... according to her, you must've had a very strange teacher -- historically, the figure for "how long ago did they die out" has been creeping down as more and more recent specimen were found. At no time did people think it was just 6ka ago.