Jewelry, one of the oldest cultural and individual items of humanity, continues to be used in the same way today, after thousands of years of history. Well, how many years ago do the necklaces, which are among these jewelry, date back? It is quite difficult to give a definitive answer to this question, as it is necessary to dig up all areas of the world and find the oldest and not yet extinct remains. While there are necklaces that are thought to have been worn even 150,000 years ago, these necklaces were generally unworked necklaces.
The oldest of the necklaces that people made with their own hands was discovered recently. Archaeologists in Poland discovered the tip of a necklace worn 41,500 years ago. The pendant made of mammoth tusks is the oldest worked pendant discovered in Eurasia.
Patterns can mean something:
The pendant, which is in two pieces, was found in 2010 during excavations around Poland’s Stajnia Cave. A recent radiocarbon dating method of the necklace showed it to be about 41,500 years old. In the research they published, archaeologists stated that there were more than 50 puncture marks on the pendant. It was also stated that each sign on it may have been made after a successful animal hunt or to indicate the cycles of the Moon or Sun.
Although it is thought that the found piece was worn as a necklace around a person’s neck, archaeologists also said that this is not certain. Archaeologists noted that the necklace dates back to when anatomically modern humans first developed jewelry and other forms of body ornamentation around the world. Exactly why people started wearing jewelry remains a mystery.
In addition to this pendant, an awl used to pierce things was also discovered during excavations in the same area. The crochet hook in this discovery, also made in 2010, was made from horse bone and dated to the same time as the necklace.
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