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Press release: Earliest known 'bling' revealed

23 June 2006

Fresh analysis of beads made from seashells by a team led by a UCL researcher reveals that modern humans used jewellery at least 25,000 years earlier than previously thought.

Researchers from the UK, France and Israel report in the journal 'Science' that they re-examined beads, originally excavated from a site in Israel and one in Algeria in the early half of the 20th Century, using elemental and chemical analysis. Results show the beads date from between 100,000 to 135,000 years ago - which is much earlier than a recent significant find of beads excavated in South Africa that date from 75,000 years ago.

Read the complete press release.