With Ancient Jewelry, It`s the Thought That Counts
Baku, March 9 (AZERTAC). "The person who wore these beads must have had a sense of themselves as an individual human being. Monkeys don`t have that sense. They don`t recognize themselves in the mirror."
The previously oldest known human ornaments are a set of perforated teeth and collections of eggshell beads from Bulgaria and Turkey, dating to 41,000 to 43,000 years ago, and 40,000-year-old ostrich eggshell beads from Kenya.
This year, scientists working in Tanzania announced the discovery of two ostrich eggshell beads believed to be of even earlier vintage -- 45,000 to 110,000 years ago. The age of those eggshell shards, however, is widely disputed by experts in the field.
Some respected authorities on human origins have expressed technical reservations about the newest find.
"My initial reaction is that the claims are incredibly premature," said archeologist Randall White at New York University, author of "Prehistoric Art: The Symbolic Journey of Humankind."
Having examined enlarged digital images of the shells, White said he was not able to identify any tool marks, suggesting that the holes might be natural. He has not examined the shells.
He also was not willing to rule out the possibility that the beads worked their way down into the older sediments by accident.
Stanford University anthropologist Richard Klein, who believes that behavioral advances were caused by biological change, has worked at the Blombos site. He shared White`s skepticism.
"This is a serious claim, but there is a lack of support," Klein said. "I don`t think the evidence is compelling."
But Henshilwood is confident that the discovery will hold up.
Researchers dated the age of the site in two ways.
The sand surrounding the artifacts was dated with a technique called optically stimulated thermoluminescence, which shows that the items were last exposed to sunlight at least 75,000 years ago. Scorched stones found nearby also were independently dated to about 77,000 years ago, the researchers reported.
The shells retained traces of red ochre, suggesting that the beads had been painted or sewn on fabric that had been coated with the iron oxide pigment.
"This is someone making a statement about themselves to other people, about their individuality," Yellen said. "For me, that is the significant part.
"That makes you human."
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