THE artist – if she or he can be called that – was right-handed and used a shark’s tooth. They had a remarkably steady hand and a strong arm. Half a million years ago, on the banks of a calm river in central Java, they scored a deep zigzag into a clam shell.
We will never know what was going on inside its maker’s head, but the tidy, purposeful line (pictured above right) has opened a new window into the origins of our modern creative mind.
It was found etched into the shell of a fossilised freshwater clam, and is around half a million years old – making the line by far the oldest engraving ever found. The date also means it was made two to three hundred thousand years before our own species evolved, by a more ancient hominin, Homo erectus.
“It is a fascinating discovery,” says Colin Renfrew, an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge. “The earliest abstract decoration in the world is really big news.”
Every Tuesday is Art Tuesday here at Adafruit! Today we celebrate artists and makers from around the world who are designing innovative and creative works using technology, science, electronics and more. You can start your own career as an artist today with Adafruit’s conductive paints, art-related electronics kits, LEDs, wearables, 3D printers and more! Make your most imaginative designs come to life with our helpful tutorials from the Adafruit Learning System. And don’t forget to check in every Art Tuesday for more artistic inspiration here on the Adafruit Blog!
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They’re not certain Homo Erectus could speak, but they believe they might have at a rate of about 12 words a minute, based on the shape of their pharynx, chest and neck. So to me this was a small step into the next phase (after speaking) which says “I exist”. Or, perhaps even more exciting: “I existed”. Human life is so short, yet we have learned so much from accumulating knowledge precisely this way. It’s humbling and amazing, even hopeful.
Every Tuesday is Art Tuesday here at Adafruit! Today we celebrate artists and makers from around the world who are designing innovative and creative works using technology, science, electronics and more. You can start your own career as an artist today with Adafruit’s conductive paints, art-related electronics kits, LEDs, wearables, 3D printers and more! Make your most imaginative designs come to life with our helpful tutorials from the Adafruit Learning System. And don’t forget to check in every Art Tuesday for more artistic inspiration here on the Adafruit Blog!
They’re not certain Homo Erectus could speak, but they believe they might have at a rate of about 12 words a minute, based on the shape of their pharynx, chest and neck. So to me this was a small step into the next phase (after speaking) which says “I exist”. Or, perhaps even more exciting: “I existed”. Human life is so short, yet we have learned so much from accumulating knowledge precisely this way. It’s humbling and amazing, even hopeful.