Wood, design and sustainability

The second area focuses on wood as the great ally of humanity throughout history. It accordingly displays several wood-based man-made materials, from the Palaeolithic period to the present day, with an emphasis on artefacts or designs that, over the course of history, have represented a turning point in the cultural evolution of human life, with regard to both the natural environment and social milieu. From the Shöningen spears, today's oldest-known wooden artefacts, created by humans some 400,000 years ago, and the ladle, a design of global reach, cultural diversity and wood biodiversity that has stood the test of time, to the steam-curved wood procedure that led to the democratisation of furniture in the second half of the 19th century, by enabling its mass production, storage, assembly and spread throughout Europe.