Beads Connect Behavior Theories

Ancient beads that may represent the oldest attempt by people at self-decoration have been identified from sites in Algeria and Israel.

The beads, made from shells with holes bored into them, date to around 100,000 years ago, some 25,000 years older than similar beads discovered two years ago in South Africa, researchers report in Friday’s issue of the journal Science.

“Our paper supports the scenario that modern humans in Africa developed behaviors that are considered modern quite early in time, so that in fact these people were probably not just biologically modern but also culturally and cognitively modern, at least to some degree,” said study coauthor Francesco d’Errico of the National Center for Scientific Research in Talence, France.

Some researchers have argued that the ability to use symbolism did not develop until people migrated to Europe 35,000 to 40,000 years ago.

Alison Brooks, head of the anthropology department at George Washington University, said the new find reinforces that people developed behaviors gradually.

“There were no revolutions in human behavior; there was a gradual accumulation of behaviors,” she said.

The perforated shells from Blombos in South Africa and those now coming to light are of the same genus, Nassarius, she noted.

The new find involves just three shells, two from Skhul in Israel that the researchers said were about 100,000 years old and one from Oued Djebbana, Algeria, estimated to be 90,000 years old.

The researchers said the shells were found many miles from the sea, indicating they were brought to those locations deliberately.

The newly identified shells were found in a study of museum collections.

The shells from Skhul were excavated in the 1930s. The researchers were able to date them by comparing sediment stuck to one of them with layers containing human skeletons that were 100,000 or more years old.

The Algerian site was excavated in the 1940s, and the researchers said the age estimate of 90,000 years was based on the technology and style of the stone tools found there.