Ancient beads shows stone-age culture more advanced than previously thought
A team of EU-funded researchers has discovered 25 marine shell beads that they established were between 70,000 and 80,000 years old. The findings, which back up previous evidence that human beings were wearing and trading jewellery as far back as 80,000 years ago, were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS). The study was part of the EUROCORES ('Origin of man, language and languages') project, which was financed through the 'Support for the coordination of activities' Thematic area of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) and is coordinated by the European Science Foundation (ESF). The discovery of the beads represents a breakthrough in our understanding of ancient cultures: the wearing and probable trading of jewellery shows that ancient societies were more advanced than has previously been thought. The shell beads were found in four different Middle Paleolithic [Stone Age] sites in Morocco. Previous investigations in Algeria, Israel and South Africa have uncovered even older beads, dating back 110,000 years. Lead investigator Francesco d'Errico of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France explained: 'The early invention of the personal ornament is one of the most fascinating cultural experiments in human history. The common element among such ornaments is that they transmit meaning to others. They convey an image of you that is not just your biological self.' The shell beads have man-made holes through the centre and show signs of both pigment markings and wear and tear, suggesting that they were worn as jewellery. All the shells found have come from a similar time period from the Nassarius genus of molluscs. The fact that the shells were used for a similar purpose across a wide range of locations indicates that the wearing of them as jewellery was a widespread cultural phenomenon that survived for thousands of years. 'Either people went to sea and collected them or, more likely, marine shell beads helped create and maintain exchange networks between coastal and inland peoples,' said Dr d'Errico. 'This shows well-structured human culture that attributed meaning to these things. Organised networks would also assist trading of other items as well as genetic and cultural exchange, so these shells help reveal the connections between cognition and culture.' The discovery of jewellery of such an age shows that during this period thinking and social and cultural traits were more advanced than previously thought. The discovery gives a fascinating insight into the development of modern cultural behaviour. The wearing of jewellery was thought, until recently, to have happened around the time of the colonisation of Europe around 40,000 years ago. The discovery of the beads shows that this is not the case and that cognitive development happened over a much longer period. 'This study presents a very good example of the groundbreaking results that can be gained from an interdisciplinary environment,' said Dr Eva Hoogland, EUROCORES coordinator for the cognitive sciences at ESF. 'Some questions such as those concerning the interconnections between human cognition and culture can only be addressed if scientists of varying background join forces. As witnessed by this study, this opens up new avenues for research when it happens on a structural basis, by leading scientists from across Europe,' she added.
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