150,000 years old: The oldest jewelry in the world was discovered Israel today

Thirty-three beads made from sea snail shells found in the cave Bizmona on the Atlantic coast of Morocco are probably the earliest jewels made by humans and discovered to mankind ever.

The jewels discovered, Photo: Screen

The beads that were tested date to a period that is 142-150 thousand years old and they were discovered by a team of researchers from the University of Arizona who explored the cave in the years 2014-2018.

In each of the shells there is a hole and according to the marks on which people wore them as a necklace on the neck or as earrings in the ear lobes.

An article on the discovery was published in the scientific journal

Science

, and the lead author of the article is researcher Stephen L.

Conn explains: "The importance of the discovery is that it is the earliest evidence of non-verbal human communication and there is a hint here of human cognitive skills at the time. In fact, it turns out that humans transmitted messages about themselves through ornaments much earlier than previously thought.

These shells are actually the way through which people have expressed their identity, their affiliation and their status.

This is the tip of the iceberg of the human trait called communication and it shows that even hundreds of thousands of years ago people were interested in communicating with larger groups of people beyond their immediate family.

These are social symbols that exist to this day, such as police uniforms and blue police lights flashing on a vehicle. "

Excavations in a cave in Morocco, Photo: Screen

The prehistoric culture that operated in the area at that time was called Aterian and is known for the spearheads made by its people who knew how to hunt large animals such as rhinos, but what interested the researchers beyond the ability to hunt in a group was the question of language. . Here of course there is a problem because until the invention of writing a few thousand years ago, we have no proofs or direct ways to know about human language and therefore the great importance of such chains or earrings that indirectly teach about acceptable communication Which were understood for all life in the area and not just for the immediate family and thus we have a kind of symbol that formed the basis of communication and language.

With regard to the question of what prompted the ancient Atrians to make such jewelry that were probably used to express status or connection, researchers have no answer.

According to Stephen L.

Con "We do not know what prompted the Atrians to wear and display such things because there is a difference between the knowledge of making something and using it. Perhaps the population grew in space and so people needed means of identification to belong to a clan or tribe that protected common resources ".