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Friday, November 27, 2009

Fashion The Earliest Jewelry Is Found in a Cave in South Africa

Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, Nov 27, 2009 at 9:11 AM

BBC reports...

The oldest pieces of jewellery made by modern humans have emerged in Africa. Shell beads found in Blombos Cave on the southern tip of the continent are 75,000 years old, scientists say.... Until now, the oldest beads in Africa date to about 45,000 years ago.

The 41 Blombos shells were found in clusters of up to 17. They come from a tiny mollusc scavenger, Nassarius kraussianus, which lives in estuaries. This means... they must have been carried to the cave as the nearest rivers are some 20km away. The shells appear to have been selected for size and deliberately perforated—the shape and position of the holes are the same on all them. "The leather or the twine that was used [to hold them together] has left a very distinctive wear pattern on the shells," Professor Henshilwood said.

Even here—in the depths of history, in such a dangerous world (with its storms, diseases, and wild animals)—the human finds a little time to fuss over and focus on his/her appearance. What an animal.

Comments (3) RSS

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It's easy to find time for crafts when you don't have any blogs to keep up with.

Posted by elenchos on November 27, 2009 at 9:24 AM

My bird likes to decorate his feathers with strips of chewed off paper. Many animals adorn themselves. If the shells were carried a great distance they were probably traded for something. Probably sex.

Posted by Vince on November 27, 2009 at 9:29 AM

Considering that the world is 6,000 years old, I find this report quite dubious.

Posted by satara on November 27, 2009 at 11:44 AM