My Inner Neanderthal

Filed in archive Necklaces on January 15, 2010

I admit that I've been known to shop as early as 8 AM. It's hard to resist when you can be in the comfort of your own home drinking coffee, ignoring the emails that have multiplied in your inbox overnight. I was admiring this pretty shell necklace, idly listening to NPR's Morning Edition when I heard this amazing story about Neanderthals.

Scientists in Spain have found evidence of "body ornaments and cosmetics," owned by Neanderthals, according to Christopher Joyce for National Public Radio. To put this in plain English - 50,000 years ago, Neanderthals wore jewelry.

"Neanderthals were our evolutionary cousins, but they'd sure stand out in a modern crowd," writes Joyce. "With heavy brows and jutting jaws, they were a rough-looking lot. But archaeologist Joao Zilhao of the University of Bristol in England says he's found evidence at a Spanish excavation that might change that view. He's found shells with holes in them, apparently strung together and worn like beads."

"Ornaments show you're part of the in-crowd, or a big shot," writes Joyce. After having a good laugh about that (I guess status jewelry existed before us, Homo sapiens) I checked out NPR's website.

And I guess we haven't come very far, or I haven't, because the pretty necklace I'd admired and the ancient version - not so very different! This was a profound discovery, one that would require heavy thought and a lot more caffeine…

Am I shallow? Unevolved? Obsessed with status?

I made a note to contemplate all this… after 9 am, or perhaps tomorrow. In the meantime, I bought the necklace.