Prehistoric jewels: how Stone Age men and women adorned themselves
Since the beginning of human history our ancestors made and wore ornaments: the oldest prehistoric jewelry, in fact, date back to the Stone Age. In that period, which goes from the Paleolithic (2 million years ago) to the Neolithic (8000-3500 BC), theHomo Sapiens, who discovered how to produce and control fire and created the first examples of prehistoric art. In the second era of Prehistory, the Metal Age (5000-1100 BC), man learned to work copper, bronze and iron, a discovery which influenced the creation of jewelery and ornaments.
The oldest prehistoric jewels in the world
The shells of Morocco
In the Bizmoune cave near Essaouira, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, 2021 shells were found in 33, pierced like beads on a necklace. According to the study of an international group of researchers, the shells date back to 142 years ago and are the prehistoric jewelry oldest found so far. In fact, they show signs of workmanship, such as chipping and polishing done with stone tools, and signs of wear, due to the thread from which they were suspended. For scholars, the beads and the necklace they made up are the work of craftsmen belonging to the Homo Sapiens species, which at the time lived only in Africa.
Croatia's eagle talons
In the same period, Neanderthal man lived in Europe. In Krapina, Croatia, one of the most important Neanderthal sites in Europe, eight worked eagle claws were found, dated about 130 years ago. Again the workmanship shows that these claws were intended to be used as an ornament, probably on necklaces and bracelets. Other finds of analogous eagle claws, dating back to a period between 100 and 45 thousand years ago, occurred in the caves of Azé, in France, and in Fumane cave, north of Verona.
The evolution of jewelery in prehistory
From shells, tusks and bones…
As we have seen, the oldest jewels belong to the Paleolithic, when men and women still lived in caves. We began to produce and control fire, but activities such as breeding and agriculture would not be born until many thousands of years later. Even in that primitive age, therefore, jewels and ornaments were created, which probably had the function of an amulet to protect hunting and survival. Man did not yet know metals, therefore the materials of the former prehistoric jewelry they were the ones that were easily available. Those who lived near the sea, as in the case of the cave in Morocco, or near rivers used shells, pebbles, fish bones and teeth. Instead, those who lived in the innermost areas used the remains of animals killed in the hunt, such as horns, tusks, teeth and bones. All these objects were worked with stones to obtain mostly pendants to be worn as necklaces.
… to the most elaborate prehistoric jewels
In the Neolithic, the last period of the Stone Age, the first permanent settlements were born around the great rivers of the Middle East (Nile, Jordan, Tigris, Euphrates). In this era agriculture and livestock developed, clay pottery was produced, houses and places of worship were built and the first commercial exchanges were born. Also prehistoric jewelry they evolve, become more elaborate and begin to play a role of social status. Ornaments multiplied for every part of the body, both male and female: in addition to necklaces, bracelets were created for the wrists and arms, anklets, rings, earrings, hair clips, buckles and brooches. In the meantime, in fact, metals were beginning to be discovered, transported by rivers, which in fact marked the beginning of a new era both in human evolution and in the production of jewels. Shortly thereafter, in fact, the creations of luxurious and prestigious jewels would be born, such as i Egyptian jewelry.