The tubular bead is made from the bone of an unfortunate hare and goes down as the oldest bead found in America to date.
Archaeologists discovered the bead in the US state of Wyoming. They found the bead at a prehistoric site, where the remains of a young adult mammoth killed by hunters were also found. Archaeologists also previously came across traces of a prehistoric camp that appears to have been inhabited at the time of the mammoth’s slaughter.
Oldest bead
The bead that researchers discovered at the same spot is about 7 millimeters long and has a 1.6 millimeter large opening. Research shows that the bead is about 12,940 years old. This makes it the oldest bead found in America to date, the researchers conclude in the magazine Scientific Reports.
The researchers also looked at the composition of the bead, which revealed that it was made from a hare bone. According to the researchers, the bead is – at least for now – the oldest evidence that hares were already used during the so-called Clovis culture (see box).
The term ‘Clovis culture’ refers to big game hunters who were found in America from about 11,500 BC. The culture is named after the town of Clovis (in New Mexico) where the first remains of this culture – including the elongated spearheads so characteristic of the Clovis culture – were found. The Clovis culture was long seen as the oldest Native American culture, but there are now strong indications that America was populated thousands of years before the Clovis culture.
In their study, the archaeologists conclude quite firmly that the bead was made by people – Clovis people. Of course, they also considered other options; In theory, the bead could also have arisen after consumption and digestion by a carnivore. But the researchers consider that unlikely. They point out that around 13,000 years ago, few meat eaters lived in the area where the kraal was recovered. Moreover, the bead was found approximately one meter away from remains that were clearly left by humans. Grooves on the outside of the bead also hint at human processing; either using stone tools or their own teeth.
And so everything indicates that people already took the trouble to make beads 13,000 years ago. They probably used them to decorate their bodies or clothing, the researchers say.
