In the 1970's during an archeological dig in western Pakistan, the oldest piece of pearl jewelry in existence was unearthed. The site where the pearl and shell necklace was found, is in what is now known as the ancient city of Mehrgarh.
Dating back more than 9000 years, the city of Mehrgarh is one of the oldest, structured settlements ever discovered; the habitancy who lived in Mehrgarh dwelled in the world's first brick houses, grew the world's first barley, and farmed the first goats and sheep. In historical terms Mehrgarh marked the starting of the 'Neolithic Era,' otherwise known as the 'New-Stone Age;' an highly foremost milestone in our collective history, marking the very beginnings of organized society.
Pearl
As the dig progressed, more and more evidence was uncovered attesting to Mehgarh being a large planned urban environment in existence for over thousands of years. Mehrgarh was fully adequate with water systems, drains, markets, trading businesses, clinics even the world's first recorded dentist! But perhaps the most noteworthy insight, dental hygiene aside, was provided by tools and implements fashioned from copper ore; the world's earliest evidence to date of man's capability to work metals.
Unwittingly steering humanity colse to yet other corner in human evolution, the habitancy of Mehrgarh with their breathtaking innovations in metallurgy marked our specie's earliest transition within the 'Neolithic Era' to the 'Chalcolithic,' or 'Copper Age.' As more and more copper and bronze artifacts were uncovered from the city's foundations it also became apparent that artisans of Mehrgarh were highly adept in the arts; particularly sculpture and jewelry.
The jewelry and metalwork casting techniques discovered at the Mehrgarh excavations proved beyond doubt that the habitancy who dwelled there were far more developed than any other civilization for thousands of years to come. Exhibiting breathtaking prescience, the jewelers and metalworkers of Mehrgarh were discovered to have employed tool such as stone and copper drills, updraft kilns, pit kilns and copper melting crucibles working from smelting workshops adequate with forges, very similar to a modern 'smithy.'
Throughout the excavations, ancient burial sites dotted in and colse to the city walls revealed a wealth of embellishment and jewelry. The burial sites which revealed the largest amounts of artifacts were those of males, containing intricate goods such as terracotta and bronze figurines of women and animals, baskets, tools, beads, bangles, pendants and necklaces. Much of the jewelry discovered included gems like lapis lazuli, carnelian, agate, turquoise, shells and pearls. These gemstones were not indigenous to the area, showing that the artisans of Mehrgarh traded throughout a wide area with the lapis lazuli and copper originating from the highlands of Afghanistan, carnelian and agate advent from Gujarat in India and the shells and pearls from Pakistan's southern coasts on the Arabian Sea.
The History of Pearls - The World's Oldest Pearl Jewelry
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