Modern shells from the marine organism whose shells were used to make the world’s first ornamental beads and (right) a model displays gold jewellery. Picture by Marian Vanhaeren and Francesco d’Errico

New Delhi, June 22: Three seashells with holes bored into their centres, excavated from archaeological sites in Algeria and Israel, might be the world’s oldest jewellery, a team of scientists has reported.

Chemical studies show that the seashells are between 100,000 and 135,000 years old. The finding has bolstered the hypothesis that the human trait of personal decoration emerged much earlier than previously believed.

In a study to appear in the journal Science tomorrow, scientists from France, Israel and the UK have argued that the remoteness of the shells from the sea and the holes in their centres suggest that they were used as beads.

Until recently, scientists had believed the first signs of modern human culture surfaced about 40,000 years ago when anatomically modern humans moved to Europe. Researchers believed it was only after this period that humans became capable of symbolic thinking that gave rise to cave paintings, other art forms and jewellery.

“Our findings show that there were modern cultures in Africa quite early in time,” lead researcher Marian Vanhaeren, of the Centre for the Evolution of Cultural Diversity at the University College of London, said.

The seashells had been excavated during the 1930s and 1940s at Es-Skhul in Israel and Oued Djebbana in Algeria and kept in museums in London and Paris.

Two years ago, scientists had reported the discovery of 75,000-year-old perforated seashells from a cave in South Africa. The beads from Algeria and Israel now pull the antiquity of jewellery back by at least 25,000 years.

“The findings show that a widespread tradition of beadwork existed in North Africa and the countries of Western Asia well before the arrival of anatomically modern humans in Europe,” Vanhaeren said.

The site at Es-Skhul is 3.5 km from the Mediterranean shore, while Oued Djebbana is 200 km away. The beads are made from a shallow-water marine organism. “The remoteness of these sites from the seashore and a comparison of the shells to natural shell assemblages indicate deliberate selection and transport by humans for symbolic use,” the researchers said.

“Our findings support the scenario that modern humans in Africa were not just biologically modern, but also culturally and cognitively modern,” said Francesco d’Errico, a co-author from a French research centre.

The study also throws up questions about evolution of human cultural behaviour.

The beads from Israel and Algeria are at least 100,000 years old. The South African cave yielded 75,000-year-old beads. But it’s only from 40,000 years ago onwards that beads turn up commonly at archaeological sites in Africa, Europe and Asia.

Vanhaeren said there are gaps before 40,000 years during which scientists do not find evidence of personal ornaments. “This opens up a question: was cultural evolution a continuous or discontinuous process?”