Humans are defined by our ability to communicate, and we have invented myriad ways to do so. With social networking, it is easier than ever to ‘friend’ someone and reject another with the tap of a finger or a swipe of the thumb.
In a relatively short time, connection has become a commodity that we cannot live without. But 50,000 years ago, social ties were precious necessities and social relationships were carefully nurtured over thousands of years.
It turns out that social networking is not strictly a 21st century phenomenon as we might have thought. Jennifer Miller and Yiming Wang, of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, have proposed that ostrich eggshell (OES) beads are the key to uncovering a network of social connections dating back to 50,000 years ago.
Miller and Wang’s extensive research revealed in a Nature paper that beads were fashioned into headbands and necklaces and were used to decorate bags and clothes. Their evidence suggests that, through bead exchange, human populations in eastern and southern Africa forged connections that spanned over 17,000 years.
Imagining life 50,000 years ago is a tricky task. However, for archaeologist and HERI PhD candidate Amy Hatton, it’s all in a day’s work. Together with HERI’s Benjamin Collins, an Archaeologist with the Department of Anthropology at the University of Manitoba, Hatton wrote a response to Miller and Wang’s work for Nature’s News and Views.
In it, the two acknowledge that previous studies around OES beads have been lacking. “Whereas [Miller and Wang’s work] is concentrating all of this information across the whole of Africa, allowing us to see a broad picture,” says Hatton.
It is a broad picture, indeed: 50,000 years ago, human populations were spread across the globe, and the eastern and southern African populations under study were approximately 3,000 kilometres apart. Hence, the unprecedented nature of Miller and Wang’s research. “This is the first evidence of possible connections over such a huge distance, so long ago,” says Hatton.
The significance of these ancient social ties is vast. According to Hatton, the culture of bead manufacturing and trading might have been one of the earliest forms of social connection between communities living huge distances apart. Hatton believes that such research leads to a better understanding of human evolution. “The process of making beads shows that people are trying to say something symbolically,” she says.
The social ties fostered by bead exchange might have been integral to developing a culture of connection. Furthermore, these ancient relationships may have contributed to the spread of genes and ideas between forager groups.
Miller and Wang’s research highlights certain features of individual beads, such as the diameter. They propose that each step of the bead-making process reflects deliberate choices that could have been influenced by social and cultural norms. Something as ordinary as diameter indicates shared social links. For example, where two separate populations use similar stylistic choices, one can assume that social connections existed between the two groups.
“Even if they didn't have a common language, both groups of people made OES beads, so although they might have different meaning, they definitely understood something from it,” says Hatton.
The OES beads gave the eastern and southern African populations a way to communicate with one another, she says. “What really sets [humans] apart and allowed us to flourish, is that we have symbolic culture and we’re able to create meaning in everyday objects.”
In their response for Nature’s News and Views, Hatton and Collins suggested the implementation of provenance studies, which would aid in understanding where the OES comes from by using the geology in the area. By analysing the eggshell, scientists can detect certain compounds which may point to the broad area from which they originated.
“If we were to do that on these beads, we might be able to see where the OES beads come from,” says Hatton. Provenance studies would allow tracking of OES across African landscapes and shed more light on Miller and Wang’s research.
Although our physical appearance hasn’t changed much in the last 50,000 years, our communication strategies certainly have. Yet, we have more in common with our ancestors than we thought: communication 50,000 years ago was a necessity for survival, and in 2022, it still is.