Oldest Art Was Carved Onto Shell 540,000 Years Ago

[brooklynite]

Discovery:

Some 540,000 years ago, an ancient ancestor of modern humans took a shark tooth and carefully carved a geometric engraving on a mollusk shell.

The engraving -- the oldest piece of art ever found by at least 300,000 years -- as well as a shell tool were found at a site in what is now Java, Indonesia.

The work strongly suggests that Homo erectus, aka "Upright Man," was far more sophisticated than previously thought, being capable of cognition and behavior only attributed before to our species.

Paging ANSWERS IN GENESIS...

[snooper2]

1. I wouldn't go as far as saying art LOL...maybe, "grmm' toth tooth cut good"

"grunns rucks tooth tooth cut me meat grunnsss yum yum"

[brooklynite]

2. There is, at least, pattern recognition...

[snooper2]

6. There is that- Human evolution is interesting

how it took 100's of thousands of years to be hunter-gatherers- then 10's of thousands for modern society- the a couple thousand to realize mythology isn't "real"....well, a chunk of us have figured that one out LOL

[Hortensis]

3. How exciting. Thanks Brooklynite. I just read that before this the oldest known geometric art

was dated to 70-100,000 years ago. "Beetle-browed" Homo erectus, not among our ancestors, wasn't considered capable of this kind of sophisticated artistic work. I just love when the big picture expands.

[Baclava]

4. Hey, that could be my ancestor, my art doodling hasn't changed much in half a million years!

I feel connected

[Throd]

5. And some other homo hipsterectus was dismissing it as "pedestrian" and "derivative"

[AZ Mike]

7. Correction:

6,000 years ago.