The sophistication of wooden weapons found at Schöningen in central Germany have revolutionized ideas about Palaeolithic, or Old Stone Age, man living some 300,000 years ago.
An inventory from the site, which was excavated in the late 1990s, has now revealed how good they were at making other wooden tools.
The 187 finds reveal a broad spectrum of woodworking techniques, the group led by Dirk Leder of the Lower Saxony monuments office report in the US journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).
The finds, which were made in an open-cast lignite mine, include at least 20 hunting weapons and 35 other tools thought to have been for domestic use, such as the preparation of animal hides.
The site, which lay on a lake shore at the time, is famous for its spears measuring up to 2.5 metres in length. They are the oldest hunting weapons in the world. Seven other objects are thought to have been throwing sticks used in hunting.
"Hunting weapons were not simple sticks with points, but technologically advanced tools," the group writes. It notes that the raw material used was particularly suitable in providing hardness and elasticity. "It was not available at the site but had to be procured elsewhere, which requires anticipation of an arising need and thus planning depth."
The finds are evidence of long experience in woodworking, including complex procedures.
Debris found on site showed that wooden artefacts were recycled into secondary tools. "Tools on recycled split woods were thus produced, used, repaired and discarded on-site. They can be viewed as ad hoc or expedient tools, manufactured as needed and discarded shortly thereafter," the group writes.
Sophisticated visualization techniques have been used to record the implements, with detailed photographs included in the report.