Pendant

Microscopic images of the modifications observed on the graphite pendant: (a–b) mid-section groove, (c) short groove located at one extremity of the artefact, (d–e) parallel striations observed on the flat side of the artefact, (f) highly smoothed and shiny facet present on the flat side of the artefact, (g) 3D reconstruction of the mid-section groove, (h–i) profile of the mid-section groove, (j) 3D reconstruction of the groove located at one extremity…

The human predilection for phallic imagery is well documented—just look at the scrawling in any high school locker room. A pendant recently found in northern Mongolia suggests our species has been artistically recreating the penis for at least 42,000 years. According to researchers behind a study of the pendant, published this week in Nature Scientific Reports, the 4.3-centimeter piece of carved graphite is the “earliest-known sexed anthropomorphic…

Pierced deer tooth discovered from Denisova Cave in southern Siberia that yielded ancient human DNA. Credit: © Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyResearchers from the Max Planck Institute have successfully isolated ancient human <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>DNA</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule composed of two long strands of nucleotides that coil around…

Twenty thousand years ago, someone dropped a deer-tooth pendant in a cave in southwestern Siberia, where it lay until archaeologists excavated it in 2019. Now, researchers have caught a glimpse of its last wearer. After years of effort, Elena Essel, a graduate student at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (EVA), developed a way to extract DNA embedded in an artifact’s porous surface by sweat and skin cells. Her team’s analysis of the ornament,…

A pendant made from a deer's tooth has turned out to be a veritable locket of genetic information left by an ancient woman who lived in Siberia some 20,000 years ago.Evolutionary anthropologists at the Max Planck Institute in Germany found a way to safely probe ancient artifacts for environmental DNA without destroying them, and applied it to a piece of jewelery found in the famous Denisova Cave in Russia in 2019.Other than the fragments of her chromosomes, no trace of the woman herself has been uncovered, though the…

Pierced deer tooth discovered from Denisova Cave in southern Siberia that yielded ancient human DNA. Credit: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Artifacts made of stone, bones or teeth provide important insights into the subsistence strategies of early humans, their behavior and culture. However, until now it has been difficult to attribute these artifacts to specific individuals, since burials and grave goods…

The restored reliquary. It is decorated with images of Jesus and Mary. Credit: Technical University Munich An interdisciplinary research team led by the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA) has solved the mystery of a gold-plated pendant found in 2008 in a medieval refuse pit in the Old City section of Mainz. Thanks to the non-destructive examinations at the Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) of the…

Let the world envy your overpriced IRL CryptoPunk NFT with a diamond encrusted necklace from Tiffany & Co.It seems like it was just yesterday when NFT proponents were busy trying to justify spending buckets of money on digital collectibles—and spewing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere of our struggling planet—that could largely be seen for free online. But what if everyone could admire your outrageously priced CryptoPunk or Bored Ape encrusted in IRL diamonds? This week, Tiffany & Co. announced its foray…

Ever since Donald Trump granted Kodak Black clemency before his term ended, the rapper has professed a strong loyalty to the former president.Now, Kodak is showing his appreciation to Trump once more by showing off a new pendant worth almost $10,000, which he wore on the week of Trump’s 76th birthday. The pendant depicts Trump wearing a MAGA hat and smoking a joint.“Happy Z Day #DT I Love You N***a @realdonaldtrump @donaldtrumpjr,” Kodak wrote on his Instagram Stories. The team behind the unique piece, Trax NYC jewelers…