Tag Archive for 'Ivory'

Two bird figurines found at Hohle Fels Cave in Germany. Image credit: Ralf Ehmann / University of Tübingen / Museum of Prehistory and Ice Age Art.

40,000-Year-Old Bird Figurines Found in German Cave

Jul 29, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists in southwestern Germany have unearthed two miniature bird figurines carved from mammoth ivory, among the smallest and most delicate examples...

Plaquette with hybrid creature (so-called ‘Adorant’), ivory, from the Swabian Aurignacian. Image credit: Christian Bentz & Ewa Dutkiewicz, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2520385123.

Early Humans May Have Invented System of Symbols Long Before Writing

Feb 25, 2026 by Sergio Prostak

Early humans living in Europe some 40,000 years ago developed a conventional system of geometric signs — deliberate, repeatable markings that went...

The 3,700-year-old ivory comb from Tel Lachish, Israel. Image credit: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Archaeologists Find 3,700-Year-Old Ivory Comb Inscribed with Canaanite’s Wish to Eradicate Lice

Nov 9, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

The small inscribed ivory comb was found at Tel Lachish, a key Canaanite city-state in the 2nd millennium BCE, the second most important city in the Judean...

35,000-Year-Old Ivory Workshop Unearthed in Germany

Oct 2, 2012 by Sergio Prostak

Archaeologists excavating the mammoth hunting site of Breitenbach in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, have discovered what they say is the oldest ivory workshop...