Ancient Echoes of Human Ingenuity
You might think of "ancient" as a few hundred years ago, but some of the objects our ancestors crafted have survived for millions of years. From the first tools used by our early relatives to the beginnings of artistic expression, these findings tell the story of where we came from and how we learned to master the world. With that in mind, here are 20 of the most fascinating and ancient artifacts dug up by archaeologists.
1. The Lomekwi 3 Stone Tools
You're looking at the absolute champions of age with these stone tools found in Kenya, which date back a staggering 3.3 million years. These simple, sharp-edged rocks were made by early hominins even before the genus Homo arrived on the scene. It’s pretty wild to realize that our very distant relatives were already figuring out how to smash rocks together to create useful cutting edges.
2. The Bizmoune Cave Shell Beads
Found in Morocco, these little pierced seashells are believed to be the oldest known jewelry ever made, dating back some 150,000 years. Whether their function was for decoration or communication remains unknown. But even Stone Age people wanted to show their personality.
3. The Divje Babe Flute
Neanderthals apparently had a musical side, as evidenced by this 60,000-year-old flute made from the thigh bone of a young cave bear. Found in Slovenia, the bone features spaced-out holes that experts believe were specifically placed to create different musical notes. You’d have to imagine the eerie, haunting tunes echoing through a dark cave tens of thousands of years ago.
4. The Sulawesi Cave Painting
Want to see one of the earliest known examples of figurative art? Head on over to Indonesia and check out this painting of a warty pig-like creature on a cave wall, thought to be at least 45,500 years old.
5. The Xianrendong Cave Pottery
While many people associate pottery with settled farming, these fragments from China show that mobile hunters were making vessels 20,000 years ago. You’d likely have seen these early foragers using these scorched pots to cook food. They’re much older than any other ceramic discovery.
http://fotos.noticias.bol.uol.com.br/entretenimento/ on Wikimedia
6. The Judean Desert Stone Masks
Cranking up the spook factor a few notches, these stone carvings of faces are believed to be the oldest masks ever found in the Middle East, at around 9,000 years old. Someone wanted to look scary back then, too. Similar masks have been found in Egypt, often with holes punched in the sides to thread them like a helmet.
7. The Tarkhan Dress
Egypt is famous for its mummies, but it also holds the title for the world’s oldest woven garment, a linen shirt known as the Tarkhan Dress. It’s over 5,000 years old! It also features surprisingly modern-looking pleated sleeves and a V-neck design.
8. The Areni-1 Leather Shoe
Did your workout shoes just not feel that bad after all? These leather sneakers from Armenia are 5,500 years old and fit comfortably on a human foot. It’s made from a single cowhide with grass stuffed in the heel for insulation or to help it keep its shape.
9. The Nahal Mishmar Crown
Fashionable leadership knows no bounds, even 5,500 years ago, when this copper crown was made in what is now Israel. It was found in a cave near the Dead Sea. It’s also decorated with images of birds and jagged points that would have made whoever wore it even more awe-inspiring.
10. The Royal Game of Ur
Board games aren't a new invention, as this beautiful set from ancient Mesopotamia proves it’s been around for about 4,600 years. It was found in a royal tomb and even came with its own set of rules written on a later cuneiform tablet. You could still play a match of this racing game today.
File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske) on Wikimedia
11. The Epic of Gilgamesh Tablets
These ancient tablets were unearthed in the Mesopotamian city-state of Sumer and feature the oldest known written story ever found. The Epic of Gilgamesh tablets date back nearly 4,000 years. The story follows a king and his demigod friend on various adventures.
Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) on Wikimedia
12. The Hymn to Ninkasi Beer Recipe
If you've ever wondered how the ancients spent their weekends, this 3,800-year-old Sumerian poem provides a literal recipe for beer. It’s dedicated to Ninkasi, the goddess of brewing. As such, it describes the process of fermenting bread into a boozy beverage.
13. The Nebra Sky Disc
This bronze disc from Germany is essentially the world's oldest portable star map, created about 3,600 years ago. It features gold symbols representing the sun, a crescent moon, and the Pleiades star cluster, which helped ancient people track the seasons for planting. You’d be impressed by the astronomical knowledge these Bronze Age Europeans possessed without any modern telescopes.
14. The Egyptian Prosthetic Toe
Things have come a long way in prosthetic technology since this wearable big toe made of wood and leather was made in ancient Egypt. Found on the remains of a woman buried nearly 3,000 years ago, CT scans reveal wear and tear that suggest it was used in her daily life. Doctors have even created replicas and had volunteers wear them to confirm it actually worked.
15. The Imago Mundi Babylonian Map
While the earth may not be flat, this 2,600-year-old Babylonian map certainly is. Drawn on a clay tablet from around the 6th century BC, it features Babylon in the center with a “bitter river” encompassing the rest of the known world. Just don’t try using it for navigation.
Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) on Wikimedia
16. The Lydian Lion Coin
Pretending to clean your room by collecting piles of rocks wouldn’t be the same with shiny new coins to play with. Minted in Turkey around 600 BC, these were likely made of electrum, which is an alloy of gold and silver naturally occurring as a mineral.
User:LouisAragon (uploader) on Wikimedia
17. The Inukshuk Spectacles
While they aren't glass "glasses," these ivory snow goggles used by ancient Arctic peoples are the earliest form of eyewear. They were designed with tiny slits to protect the wearer's eyes from the blinding glare of the sun on the snow, preventing snow blindness. You’d find them incredibly effective even today.
18. The Salisbury Cathedral Clock
Dating back to roughly 1386, this is widely considered the oldest working mechanical clock in existence. This massive mechanical clock was built without a face or hands and was only meant to ring a bell every hour to call people to prayer. It can be viewed inside Salisbury Cathedral in England, where the original mechanisms are still in motion.
--Immanuel Giel 09:28, 21 August 2007 (UTC) on Wikimedia
19. The Hunt-Lenox Globe
This copper sphere from around 1508 is one of the oldest globes to show the Americas, although they look a bit different from what we know them now. It’s most famous for the phrase "HIC SUNT DRACONES" or "Here be dragons" written near the coast of East Asia. It represents a time when the world was still full of mystery and unexplored territory.
Rare Book Division, The New York Public Library on Wikimedia
20. The Maya Dresden Codex
This bark-paper book is one of the few surviving original documents from the Maya civilization, dating to the 13th or 14th century. It’s filled with complex hieroglyphs, astronomical tables, and ritual. You’d find it beautiful and confusing at the same time.
