Fashions change and the clothes and accessories that were worn two years ago are very different from today. Although it seems a phenomenon typical of the current era, it seems thatour ancestors behaved very similarly, as revealed by a study published in the journalJournal of Human Evolutionwho has analyzed some “jewels” from 75,000 years ago.
The team of scientists, from the University of Bordeaux, analyzed the perforated shell samples that are disposed in a South African cave in archaeological strata dated between 72,000 and 75,000 years. According to experts, the perforated shells of the speciesNassarius Kraussianusthey were used as jewelry beads to make necklaces and bracelets. Researchersexamined wear around shell perforations, and carried out additional tests to deduce in what form these “beads” were used.
The results indicated that the way to use the shellswas varying throughout the different time periodsthat reflect the layers of the cave. “In the lower layers, the oldest, the shells were placed with the flat and shiny faces together. But, like all fashions, it did not last long: in the upper layers the shells were placed two by two, with the flat faces facing upwards ”, explains Mariano Vanhaeren, one of the authors.
This is the first evidence of a change in the social norms that would govern the “style” of Palaeolithic men. On the other hand, it is not clear if the cave residents actually changed their ideas, or were replaced by another group of primitive humans with different tastes. However, the results suggest that these beads, like today’s jewelry, played a merely symbolic role.
