SapienCE Researchers, Francesco d’Errico, Karen Loise van Niekerk, Lila Geis and Christopher Stuart Henshilwood, have published a new study supporting a multistep evolutionary scenario for the culturalization of the human body.
The discovery, published in the Journal of Human Evolution, is evidence that humans have been collecting eye-catching shells for the last 100 000 years ago.
The significant findings provide vital information about how and when we may have started developing modern human identities, according to a statement from the Wits University.
“The discovery of eye-catching unmodified shells with natural holes from 100 to 73 years ago, confirms previous scant evidence that marine shells were collected, taken to the site and, in some cases, perhaps worn as personal ornaments. This was before a stage in which shells belonging to selected species were systematically, and intentionally perforated with suitable techniques to create composite beadworks,” says Karen Loise van Niekerk.
The shells were all found in the Blombos Cave, on the Southern Cape of South Africa’s coastline. Similar shells have been found in North Africa, other sites in South Africa and the Mediterranean Levant, which means that the argument is supported by evidence from other sites, not just Blombos Cave.
Picture 1 provided by Wits University: Image showing excavation at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Photo: UiB, SapienCE