Archaeologists working in Bizmoune cave in southwestern Morocco have discovered 33 shell beads unearthed between 2014 and 2018 and dated between 142,000 and 150,000 years ago.
Many beads of a similar type had already been found in the region, but none had been dated beyond 130,000 years.
Science Advances published the research in 2021, stating that the team has recovered what is believed to be the oldest jewel in the world. The team is working to confirm the dating through scientific analysis.
The study, led by El Mehdi Sehasseh, a graduate student at the National Institute of Archaeological and Heritage Sciences in Rabat, involved uranium dating and focused on where the beads were deposited in the sedimentary layers, helping to assess when the jewelry was actually made.
At first glance, it was unclear whether the beads found were pieces of jewelry, since they were made of shells. But the researchers were able to conclude that they were indeed created out of human intervention. Recurring, almost microscopic “striations” were found around the holes, suggesting that they were works made by human use of a tool and wear and tear from being embedded in a wire. Some beads also show traces of ochre, a pigment commonly used by ancient humans for self-decoration.
This style of beading is associated with the Stone Age Aterian culture in North Africa. This ancient civilization made hunting spikes from stone and is now credited with creating the earliest examples of symbolic material culture: jewelry.
Another interesting aspect of this jewelry is that it was used as a form of communication, not just as a self-ornament.
As Steven L. Kuhn said in an interview with Eureka Alert!, «They were probably part of the way people expressed their identity through their clothing. They are the tip of the iceberg of this kind of human characteristic. They show that it was also present hundreds of thousands of years ago and that humans were interested in communicating with wider groups of people than their closest friends and family members».
Kuhn also said that as more people began to occupy North Africa, they may have needed a way to identify themselves.
