Jewellery: Humanity's Oldest Artform

Is jewellery as old as art?

Long before cities were built, before words were spoken or written, there was adornment.
More than 140,000 years ago, early humans created a language of adornment that still defines us today, that language is called jewellery.

Archaeologists uncovered tiny, perforated shells across different parts of the world. These small ,simple shells were carefully chosen, shaped, and strung together to form now what we think is the  oldest jewellery in the world,  necklaces. They represent the beginning of art, of identity, of expression, and a long journey of human beings fascination with adornment.

The Bizmoune Cave Beads, Morocco

Discovered in Bizmoune Cave, near Essaouira, Morocco, a collection of 33 sea snail shells dates back at least 142,000 years.
Each shell was delicately perforated, which is a testament to skill, intention, pattern, and care. These were symbolic objects. Archaeologists believe they were worn as necklaces or even sewn into clothing, marking and thus, communicating one’s identity or place within a community.

These beads’ creation required both technical ability and imagination to see beauty, assign significance, and to create and use shells as a visible mark of belonging.

The Moroccan Ministry of Culture, which showcased these beads in 2021, described them as a universal symbol of humanity’s first expressions of art.

The Skhul Cave Shells, Israel

 Moving to further east, in Skhul Cave near Mount Carmel in Israel, another set of Nassarius sea shells, dating back about 120,000 years, were found.
These too were perforated and smoothed, likely suspended from string or sinew. The fact that similar adornments appeared thousands of kilometres apart suggests that early humans shared an instinct for ornamentation. This points to an unspoken language of beauty and identity across cultures, definitely geographies. 

The Skhul beads were carried inland, far from the coast, implying that they were treasured objects. These  beads were traded, gifted, or worn as tokens of meaning. They show that adornment was not bound by geography, one can almost say these are universal symbols of adornment. 

The Blombos Cave Beads, South Africa

Next moving to a completely different geography, to Blombos Cave, on South Africa’s southern coast, archaeologists uncovered 75,000-year-old shell beads, also made from Nassarius shells. These were found grouped together likely once strung into a necklace or bracelet.
Their maker chose uniform shells, shaped them by hand, and perforated them with tools. The beads reveal early design thinking which is seen even today, the same principles which govern jewellery to this day. They showcase the skilful work done by these early jewellery craftsmen which is done by repetition, proportion and symmetry.

These three discoveries together from Morocco, Israel, and South Africa, tell a remarkable story: adornment is one of humanity’s first shared instincts.

Adornment as Identity

A very important fact to notice from the discovery of these beads being skilfully created into jewellery pieces is that people who made these beads were not driven by survival. These people were driven by expression. They adorned themselves to identify, mark and to communicate who they were, where they belonged to, and what their status was like.  Jewellery became human being's first form of art. It acted like a bridge between the physical and emotional world.

In choosing to wear these shells, these humans declared something timeless: beauty matters; identity matters.

Surha and the Continuum of Beauty

At Surha, we see these discoveries as the earliest chapters of our collective story.
From shells strung in caves to sculptural gold forms today, the language of jewellery has always been the same, it signifies choice, beauty and belonging. 

Every piece of jewellery at Surha  carries that continuity, it is an unending an echo of those first gestures of creativity. Jewellery remains the most personal form of art: worn close to the skin, part of one’s rhythm, as ancient as humanity itself.

Adornment began as art, and it endures as art.
Across 142,000 years, we continue to do what they once did, which is to shape matter into meaning, and beauty into identity.

 

Ref: https://www.assahifa.com/english/arts/morocco-showcases-the-worlds-oldest-jewellery/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/16/artsandhumanities.arts

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047248404001307

https://www.nature.com/news/2006/060619/full/news060619-10.html