Something I find incredibly cool is that they’ve found neandertal bone tools made from polished rib bones, and they couldn’t figure out what they were for for the life of them.
“Wait you’re still using the exact same fucking thing 50,000 years later???”
“Well, yeah. We’ve tried other things. Metal scratches up and damages the hide. Wood splinters and wears out. Bone lasts forever and gives the best polish. There are new, cheaper plastic ones, but they crack and break after a couple years. A bone polisher is nearly indestructible, and only gets better with age. The more you use a bone polisher the better it works.”
It’s just.
50,000 years. 50,000. And over that huge arc of time, we’ve been quietly using the exact same thing, unchanged, because we simply haven’t found anything better to do the job.
i also like that this is a “ask craftspeople” thing, it reminds me of when art historians were all “the fuck” about someone’s ear “deformity” in a portrait and couldn’t work out what the symbolism was until someone who’d also worked as a piercer was like “uhm, he’s fucked up a piercing there”. interdisciplinary shit also needs to include non-academic approaches because crafts & trades people know shit ok
cabbagekingtm reblogged this from naomimonalpha
saoga reblogged this from naomimonalpha
saoga liked this
naomimonalpha reblogged this from varhirr varhirr reblogged this from homemadelobotomy
vampiric-anomaly reblogged this from buckets-of-dirt
opposite-of-icarus reblogged this from systlin
whywouldidothiscomeon liked this taccat3 liked this
offisirguardianbear reblogged this from domhnull1559 and added: In NY State Museum in Albany NY, in the Native American display there is a small stone rectangle marked as an ‘unknown...
runninghands liked this sepp-gw liked this
ugheden reblogged this from pav0-ocellus inkblotswirl reblogged this from pav0-ocellus
inkblotswirl liked this
pav0-ocellus reblogged this from captaintiny airyoe liked this
gancanagh reblogged this from youlighttheskyfanfiction
gancanagh liked this
onionrimgs liked this poison-perfection reblogged this from shanastoryteller
softneomirotic reblogged this from labseraph
softneomirotic liked this
labseraph reblogged this from frustratedferret
labseraph liked this heyimanerd reblogged this from myloveformcrwillneverdie
frenemyace reblogged this from bumblebeesinthetrees
vikslamp reblogged this from whooliganshenanigans
melted-icecream-cone reblogged this from brattyhalfpint
brattyhalfpint reblogged this from semsei
ijustcantfigureout liked this shapelessamalgamationofanxiety reblogged this from jazzapples3
jazzapples3 reblogged this from youlighttheskyfanfiction
kchall057 liked this
justhere4thevibez reblogged this from dauntlessdiva
justhere4thevibez liked this skirris reblogged this from antmarco
jupiterflower16 reblogged this from capillaries-burst-from-boredom
jupiterflower16 liked this ilovemykpopblog2 reblogged this from aussiebibliophile
hello-leeanne123 reblogged this from demonicsymphony
hello-leeanne123 liked this
chthoniccakewalk reblogged this from causalityparadoxes aussiebibliophile reblogged this from homeinabookshelf
dream-realms reblogged this from rivercityrabbitsbro
wataksampingan liked this
systlin posted this
- Show more notes