Found during excavations between 2014 and 2018, uranium-series dating, which measures the radioactive decay of uranium, was used to date the shell beads.
Made from half-inch-long sea snail shells, the 33 beads, are older than the 130k-years-old eagle talons found at Krapina Cave in Croatia, collected by Neanderthals, The talons came from at least three different birds and showed cut marks and polishing.
Red and yellow pigmented shells found in Spain, also made by Neanderthals, date to 115k years ago.
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| The oldest beads discovered date back to 150,000 years and were snail shell beads found in a cave in Morocco |