Oldest carving in East Asia found. But its maker is a mystery.

Cut bones dating back more than a hundred thousand years challenge the idea that our species was the only type of human with the capacity for abstract thought.

5 MINUTE READ
BY MAYA WEI-HAAS
PUBLISHED JULY 24, 2019

MORE THAN A hundred thousand years ago in what is now eastern China, an ancient human relative decided to carve a bit of bone. Surrounded by the fragmented skeletons of butchered animals, the ancient engraver chose a tidbit of rib hardened from its time under the sun and carved seven nearly parallel lines, highlighting them with a smear of vibrant ochre pigments.

Now, these straight lines are making waves among paleoanthropologists, who believe that this tiny fragment, along with a second engraved bone found nearby, provide the oldest evidence of intentional symbolic carvings yet found in East Asia. If so, the find would beat the previous record holder by some 60,000 years, the team reports in the journal Antiquity.

The branch of the human family tree to which the artist belongs remains shrouded in time. But fossil skulls from an unknown species found near the bones hint that the carvings were not the handiwork of our species, Homo sapiens.

“Archaeological digs are full of mystery; you never know what you're going to discover,” study author Zhanyang Li of Shandong University says in an email. “A small object invisible to the eye can change people's understanding.”

More:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/07/oldest-carving-east-asia-maker-mystery/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=SpecialEdition_Escape_20201216&rid=FEF3402516DD393FC5D933E45FF75D5D