80,000-year-old Beads Shed Light on Early Culture Live Science - June 18, 2007
Oldest Jewelry Found in Morocco Cave National Geographic - June 7, 2007
Study reveals 'oldest jewellery' BBC - June 22, 2006
The earliest known pieces of jewelery made by modern humans have been identified by scientists. The three shell beads are between 90,000 and 100,000 years old, according to an international research team.
Africa: Cave yields 'earliest jewelery' BBC - April 2004
The oldest pieces of jewelery made by modern humans have emerged in Africa.
Shell beads found in Blombos Cave on the southern tip of the continent are 75,000
years old, scientists say. The pea-sized items all have similar holes which would have allowed them to be strung together into a necklace or bracelet, the researchers believe.
Tanzia: Ostrich beads indicate early symbolic thought MSNBC - April 2004
Stone Age beadscould be the strongest evidence yet that humans developed sophisticated
symbolic thought much earlier than once thought by wearing decorative beads. Ostrich-eggshell
beads recovered from a site in Tanzania are believed to be about 70,000 years old. The find sustains the
theory that modern human behavior originated in Africa and much earlier than many experts believe.
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