Tiny beads are revealing big stories about human prehistory. A decade-long study of more than 1,500 beads found across Africa has revealed a 50,000-year-old social network, archaeologists say.

Ancient African Communities Living 1,800 Miles Away From Each Other Making Identical ... Miller analyzed over 1,500 ostrich eggshell beads recovered from 31 archaeological sites across eastern ...

Ostrich eggshell beads reveal 10,000 years of cultural interaction across Africa. ScienceDaily . Retrieved June 2, 2025 from www.sciencedaily.com / releases / 2019 / 11 / 191127161512.htm ...

Our aim was to see how ostrich eggshell bead size has changed over the past 10,000 years. Bead size has become an informal way to estimate the age of archaeological sites in southern Africa.

Almost identical beads made from ostrich eggshells have been discovered by researchers in eastern and southern Africa that date back more than 50,000 years.

Hunter-gatherers strung a social safety net across much of southern Africa starting at least 33,000 years ago, a new study suggests. And it was held together with ostrich eggshell beads.

Beads found in S. African Blombos cave appear to be around 75,000 years old ...