Almost every year archaeologists pull out objects from oblivion that change our ideas about ancestors. It would seem that a caveman and a piece of jewelry are incompatible concepts. But no - an artifact found in a cave in Altai makes us doubt the primitivism of the ancients.
In 2008, an international group of archaeologists discovered a small bone fragment in the Denisova Cave in Altai. The first rule of the archaeologist is not to dismiss any debris. But who would have thought that the 10 grams of bones found here could, if not turn science around, then shake it up thoroughly …
Cave dwellers
A wide strip of steppes, located between the Ural ridge and the Caspian Sea, was called by scientists "the gates of peoples". The location of the Altai Mountains is also such that it was extremely difficult for ancient migrants from Europe to Asia (and vice versa) to get around them. It is not surprising that traces of many settlers have remained here. Among which are those that had little resemblance to modern man.
Most of the Altai guests preferred to live in local caves. The famous Denisova Cave is one of them. It was in it 300 thousand years ago that representatives of the genus Homo, from the Neanderthals and ending with the relatively developed nomadic peoples - the Turks and the Huns, sheltered from bad weather and predators.
The reason for such popularity of Denisova Cave is its grotto. It is always dry here, and a hole in the ceiling allows the sun to penetrate and "works" as a natural chimney. However, not all of its inhabitants considered this cave a refuge from the cold. The most ancient ones, on the contrary, preferred to keep the carcasses they got in its cool - after all, about 20 thousand years ago, it was quite hot in Southern Siberia.
Considering that people in the cave led an active lifestyle for thousands of years - butchering prey, making fires, performing rituals and even burying the dead, the soil in it hid a lot of scientific material. But only in 1977, the Soviet archaeologist Nikolai Ovodov made the first two pits here, which gave hope for the continuation of excavations. They began to work only in 1982, removing layer by layer. In 2008, archaeologists reached the 11th layer, which is responsible for the people who lived here 30-50 thousand years ago. In it, among other things, they found a small bone - a phalanx of a human finger. Already in the cave, when the identity of the bone to man became clear, archaeologists rejoiced - after all, over thousands of years bones usually turn into dust. But then it was even more interesting.
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Phalanx was sent for genetic research in Leipzig, to the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. There, a group of scientists led by biologist Svante Paabo, who "read" the Neanderthal genome earlier, determined that the bone does not belong to Homo sapiens or even Homo neanderthalensis, but to a representative of a completely different branch of anthropoids. They called him a Denisovan man. And it was a scientific sensation!
Chloritolite decoration
Later genetic studies showed that the Denisovan did not have such a developed brain and nervous system as “Homo sapiens”. In other words, the isolated DNA prompted the idea that the Denisovans could not even speak, but were primitive humanoid creatures. However, the finds dug up after the phalanx did not really fit this statement. More precisely, they stubbornly refuted him.
Bone needles with graceful ears and the same bone cases for them, pendants from phalanges and animal teeth, beads from tubular bones, rings from mammoth ivory, as well as a mass of stone points - it was hard to imagine that these things could have been made blunt (if you believe the calculations geneticists) Denisovans. But most of all scientists were struck by the chloritolite bracelet found in the same 11th layer of the cave.
Archaeologists discovered fragments of the bracelet in the eastern gallery of the Denisova cave. At first, it was unclear what it was all about: two fragments, the width of which was 2.7 centimeters and the thickness was 0.9 centimeters. When they were put together, it became clearer. True, I was embarrassed by the estimated diameter of the product - only about 7 centimeters. When the scientists realized that they had a bracelet in front of them, it was a sinful act that they thought that it had fallen into this layer by artificial means. Well, for example, some Hun warrior buried it as a treasure. It was not easy to believe that a Denisovite could make a piece of jewelry. After all, such things do not happen by accident. And the bracelet itself is a product of a certain culture, the result of life experience and views of several generations.
I was no less surprised by the material of the product. Chloritolite is a rather fragile mineral. And the living conditions of its owner did not imply a quiet life. As a result, the bracelet was subjected to mechanical stress and damage. There are traces of scratches and bumps on its outside. Therefore, it is not surprising that it broke at least twice. For the first time, the fracture surfaces were smooth enough to try to glue the pieces together. To do this, they were first sanded with an abrasive, then the edges were seamed, and after gluing they were smoothed with an unknown soft material. However, gluing did not restore its former strength, and the bracelet broke again, after which its restoration was impossible.
"Too high" technology?
Examination of the bracelet showed that there were neat holes in it, through one of which, apparently, a pendant with a bead was threaded. Archaeologists speculate that it could have been a leather strap. It was precisely by the location of the segment polished by the friction of the strap on the bracelet that it was possible to determine the “top” and “bottom” of the product and understand what was worn on the right hand. In its original form, such an adornment could well be liked by women of the 21st century. What can we say about the Denisov ladies in skins? Although hardly a woman wore it. In such societies, its role was usually low, and the bracelet could belong to an individual only with a high social status.
The small diameter of the bracelet told the scientists that it was not complete, but detachable. Worn on the wrist, it sat tightly on it. In addition to the high manufacturing technology for that time, the bracelet had one more quality - it could change color. In sunlight, it effectively reflected the rays, in the reflections of the flame it glowed with a deep dark green color. It is unlikely that he was a subject of everyday use. It is more likely that it was worn on some exceptional occasion.
Scientists have established that the ancient master had skills in stone processing that were previously considered uncharacteristic of the Paleolithic era. Judge for yourself high-speed machine drilling, boring with a tool such as a rasp, grinding and polishing using leather and hides of various degrees of dressing. Having made tools from local raw materials that the ancient master could use, scientists could hardly repeat his operations. Therefore, it was difficult for them to believe that in front of them was an object from an era that was 40-50 thousand years ago from us. Previously, it was believed that such technologies for making jewelry appeared only 10 thousand years ago.
No less interesting is the fact that the nearest chloritolite deposit is located 200 kilometers from the cave. Considering that in those days there were hardly any trade caravans, the master (or his customer) had to cover a considerable distance for pedestrians in order to extract the mineral. It turns out that the theory that the cavemen were engaged in the manufacture of items necessary only for survival does not really fit this episode. Or the Denisovans were not so primitive and cavemen. After all, the possession of such artifacts is often associated with a developed religious and spiritual culture, the ability to understand man-made beauty. And at the parking lot of the Denisovites (more precisely, in their temporary layer) a rich collection of all kinds of jewelry was found.
In the end, the find was passed on to a group of researchers from Oxford University. They worked with her for seven years, and only in May 2015 the group produced a sensational result. After many examinations, the British named the exact age of the bracelet - at least 40 thousand years. This made it the oldest piece of jewelry ever found.
True, this completely destroyed the idea that Denisov's people were primitive and unable to think abstractly. It is possible that science will present us with more than one surprise from the field of human origin, and artifacts like this bracelet will contribute to the restoration of historical truth.
Lev KAPLIN