Analysis of ancient jewelry proves the existence of nine cultural groups of people – scientists

Scientists compared jewelry from across Europe, dating from 34,000 to 24,000 years ago, and found that at least nine different hunter-gatherer cultural groups existed during the Ice Age.

Each of them had its own ornament, writes Science Alert with reference to a study published in the journal Nature.

Additional analysis of the burials showed that, despite their different origins, some of these groups had the same ornaments.

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“We have shown that two genetically different groups of people can actually share a common culture,” said Jack Baker, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in archeology at the University of Bordeaux in France.

Scientists add that people started wearing jewelry a long time ago: the first case dates back to about 140,000 years ago. This is proved by a shell necklace found in Morocco. But it really became popular about 45 thousand years ago, when ornamental traditions spread throughout Europe.

“At that point, personal ornaments became more diverse. This allowed researchers to more precisely study their role as cultural markers.” Baker explained.

Photo: Jack Baker

In the course of the research, Jack Baker collected the existing records of jewelry found in 112 places in Europe – from Portugal to Russia.

These ornaments were previously attributed to the Gravet culture (archaeological culture of the Late Paleolithic). This people lived about 10,000 years ago and became famous for their figurines of Venus. The most famous of them is Venus of Willendorf.

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Researchers note that they were impressed by the variety of decorations. They discovered 134 types of beads made from different materials: animal bones, teeth, shells, amber and stone. Some of them resembled fish tails, others – owls.

By comparing the ornaments of jewelry found at different distances, the research team identified nine cultural groups with unique preferences for different types of beads, depending on their geographic location.

Baker said these differences “crystallized” in the artifacts found in the graves. People could use them to recognize each other.

Cultural boundaries between groups were sometimes unstable

The analysis also proves that cultural boundaries were blurred and that groups living side by side “changed styles”.

Researchers discovered two different cultural groups on the territory of modern Italy. However, according to DNA analysis, only one of them existed there.

In another region, covering the territory of modern France and Belgium, people of different genetic origins adorned themselves with the same types of jewelry.

“The obtained results prove that even during the ice ages, our ancestors honed and carved beautiful pendants to identify their people and distinguish themselves from others.” – said Jack Baker, the lead author of the study.

“The sense of belonging to a certain community is deeply rooted in our shared history and played an important role in determining how Gravetians decorated themselves.” – concluded the team of researchers.

We will remind you that a 1600-year-old wine store full of interesting finds was found in Greece.

Vira Shurmakevich, “UP. Life”

Read also: In Mexico, 1900-year-old hunting tools were discovered in a cave. PHOTO