9500 year old obsidian bracelet shows exceptional craft skills
www.pasthorizonspr.com, 27-12-2011
Researchers have analysed the oldest obsidian bracelet ever identified, discovered in the 1990s at the site of Aşıklı Höyük, Turkey. Using high-tech methods developed by LTDS to study the bracelet’s surface and micro-topographic features, the researchers have revealed the astounding technical expertise of craftsmen in the eighth millennium BCE.
Their skills were highly sophisticated for this period in late prehistory, and on a par with today’s polishing techniques. This work is published in the December 2011 issue of Journal of Archaeological Science, and sheds new light on Neolithic societies.
Dated to 7500 BCE, the obsidian bracelet studied by the researchers is unique. It is the earliest evidence of this kind of obsidian working, which only reached its peak in the seventh and sixth millennia BC with the production of all kinds of ornamental objects, including mirrors and vessels. It has a complex shape and a remarkable central annular ridge, and measures 10 cm in diameter and 3.3 cm wide.
Read more: www.pasthorizonspr.com
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