Scientists recently confirmed a bracelet found in Siberia is the oldest piece of modern jewelry ever studied. It’s so old, in fact, that we Homo Sapiens can’t even claim it as our own. Instead, this ancient adornment was crafted by a Denisovan master. The Denisovan are an extinct species that were neither homo Sapiens (us) or Neanderthals (this guy).
This 40,000 year old artifact was found where the Kazakhstan, Chinese and Mongolian borders brush up against Russia. I know, I had no idea what that meant either. So here’s a map to better illuminate the region:
The bracelet was mixed amongst other artifacts, including the bones of a wooly mammoth and an as-of-yet unstudied marble ring. This ring may also prove to be Denisovan jewelry, though concluding anything based on proximity alone may be jumping the gun.
Prior to the discovery of this unbelievable bracelet, it was thought the Denisovan people were a brutish bunch. It is true they were larger and more hearty than modern humans, but it seems like they may also have been 30,000 years ahead of Homo Sapiens when it came to jewelry crafting.
Dr. Anatoly Derevyanko, the head of the Museum of History and Culture of the Peoples’ of Siberia and the Far East, had this to say:
“The skills of its creator were perfect. Initially we thought that it was made by Neanderthals or modern humans, but it turned out that the master was Denisovan.”
When asked why he felt that way, he went on to say:
“The ancient master was skilled in techniques previously considered not characteristic for the Palaeolithic era, such as easel speed drilling, boring tool type rasp, grinding and polishing with a leather and skins of varying degrees of tanning.”
The easel speed drilling the good doctor is referencing had previously been considered a much newer innovation. The oldest example of such drill speeds had been about 10,000 BC, some thirty years after the Denisovan bracelet. Here’s a close up image of the drilling:
40,000 years from now some super advanced human species will be looking at one of our Bruno Mars wristbands under a microscope:
“These early humans were quite skilled in mold-making and silicone swag… This type of quality is not typical of that time period. What’s this inscription on the inside? Wrist…band…Bros?”
Head on over to Digital Journal to learn more about this really old bracelet.
