About ten years ago, scientists found something special in the Polish Stajnia cave between animal bones and a few stone tools. It is an ivory, rounded object, made from a mammoth tusk. Researchers have now examined this object. And this is probably the oldest piece of jewelry discovered so far in Europe.

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Jewelry

The piece of jewelry is an ivory pendant of a few centimeters long. The pendant is decorated with a series of ‘dots’. In addition, two holes were made in which the jewelry could be hung. However, one of those holes has torn out. The researchers suspect that the pendant may have broken during a hunting expedition and been left in Poland’s Stajnia cave.

The Stajnia pendant, decorated with a series of at least 50 dots. Image: Antonino Vazzana – BONES Lab
The Stajnia pendant, decorated with a series of at least 50 dots. Image: Antonino Vazzana – BONES Lab

The researchers hypothesize that early Homo sapiens manufactured the jewelry about 41,500 years ago. And that means that this is the oldest piece of jewelry discovered so far in Europe. “Determining the exact age of the pendant was fundamental to cultural attribution,” said study researcher Sahra Talamo. “We are very excited about the result.”

Homo sapiens

It is also interesting that the team thinks the pendant was made by Homo sapiens. The first Homo sapiens are thought to have arrived in Europe about 45,000 years ago. But in scenarios about the earliest spread of modern humans in Europe, the territory of Poland is often skipped. This suggests that it may have been abandoned for several millennia after the demise of the Neanderthals. “However, the age of the pendant shows that the spread of Homo sapiens occurred simultaneously in Poland, as well as in Central and Western Europe,” said study researcher Andrea Picin.

Multiple finds

Why the researchers think Homo sapiens crafted the pendant? It is known that modern people walking around Central and Western Europe made similar jewelry from mammoth tusks. They not only made pendants from this, but also, for example, figurines, which are sometimes beautifully decorated with geometric motifs. Such objects have been discovered in France and Germany, among others.

Useful

Using various 3D modeling techniques, the researchers have succeeded in virtually reconstructing the newly discovered jewel. This allowed them to see it even better. And the pendant appears to have been put together with great care and skill. “This piece of jewelry shows the great creativity and extraordinary manual dexterity of the group of Homo sapiens that lived in the cave,” said study researcher Adam Nadachowski. “The pendant is only 3.7 millimeters thick, but both the tips and the two holes are cut with amazing precision.” The researchers do not know whether the dots also served a specific purpose or whether they were just ‘for the sake of beauty’. “It could represent the number of animals killed during the hunt, or it may have been used as a lunar analemma,” Nadachowski suggests.

Analysis into the special piece of jewelry continues. In addition, researchers are also studying other artifacts excavated in the Stajnia Cave, among others. Because in this way they hope to gain more insight into the beautiful and personal treasures that have been discovered in Central and Eastern Europe.