The Pseudodon shell DUB1006-fL or Pseudodon DUB1006-fL (540,000-430,000 BP) is a fossil freshwater shell of ''

Pseudodon ''Pseudodon'' is a genus of bivalvia of the Unionidae family that is native to East and Southeast Asia. There are 14 recognized species. Description The taxon was described by John Gould from his findings at the Salween River Basin in British ...

vondembuschianus trinilensis'' found at

Trinil Trinil is a palaeoanthropological site on the banks of the Bengawan Solo River in Ngawi Regency, East Java Province, Indonesia. It was at this site in 1891 that the Dutch anatomist Eugène Dubois discovered the first early hominin remains to be ...

, Java, Indonesia. The shell has a zigzag engraving supposedly made by ''

Homo erectus ''Homo erectus'' (; meaning "upright man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, with its earliest occurrence about 2 million years ago. Several human species, such as '' H. heidelbergensis'' and '' H. antecessor' ...

'', which could be the oldest known anthropogenic engraving in the world.

Description

The shell is a part of an assemblage of fossil freshwater

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

shells, excavated by the Dutch

paleoanthropologist Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of paleontology and anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as hominization, through the reconstruction of evolutionary kinship ...

and geologist Eugène Dubois in 1890s from the Pleistocene layer at the

site, Java, Indonesia. The assemblage, including the shell DUB1006-fL, is now at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands. Geometric engravings on the shell DUB1006-fL were discovered by a

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize in ...

Josephine Joordens (then at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

) and her colleagues in 2014. Their analysis suggests that the engravings are made by ''

'' between 540,000 and 430,000 BP. The engravings were probably made on a fresh shell specimen using a shark tooth. It is also suggested that all grooves were made by a single individual in a single session with the same tool.

Interpretation

Joordens et al. do not give a direct interpretation of the engravings, but suggest that "engraving abstract patterns was in the realm of Asian ''Homo erectus''

cognition Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

and neuromotor control." In her interview, Joordens says that since the intentions of the person who made the engravings are not known, it is not possible to classify these engravings as art. "It could have been to impress his girlfriend, or to doodle a bit, or to mark the shell as his own property," says Joordens.

Controversy

The main discussion happens around the question of whether the engraving on the shell can be considered as art (which would make it the earliest known artistic expression of hominids in the world). Commentators of the original study by Joordens et al. suggest their opinions, but do not study the engravings explicitly. Some commentators, similarly to the authors of the study, give a neutral description of the engravings, calling them a "doodle" or "decorative marks". Some other commentators suggest explicitly that these engravings are art. Tsion Avital, a philosopher of art and culture, makes a distinction between art and design and suggests that the engraving on Pseudodon DUB1006-fL cannot be seen as the former, but can well be the latter. He contests the description of the engraving by Joordens et al. who called it an "abstract pattern", saying that the terms "abstract" and "pattern" "hint obliquely at the possibility that these engravings possess some symbolic significance." "These engravings are in no sense abstract but rather are completely concrete marks," says Avital.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{Cite journal, last1=Joordens, first1=Josephine C. A., last2=d’Errico, first2=Francesco, last3=Wesselingh, first3=Frank P., last4=Munro, first4=Stephen, last5=de Vos, first5=John, last6=Wallinga, first6=Jakob, last7=Ankjærgaard, first7=Christina, last8=Reimann, first8=Tony, last9=Wijbrans, first9=Jan R., last10=Kuiper, first10=Klaudia F., last11=Mücher, first11=Herman J., date=2015, title=Homo erectus at Trinil on Java used shells for tool production and engraving, url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13962, journal=Nature, language=en, volume=518, issue=7538, pages=228–231, doi=10.1038/nature13962, pmid=25470048, bibcode=2015Natur.518..228J, s2cid=4461751, issn=1476-4687 {{cite journal , last1=Callaway , first1=Ewen , title=Homo erectus made world's oldest doodle 500,000 years ago , journal=Nature News , doi=10.1038/nature.2014.16477 , url=https://www.nature.com/news/homo-erectus-made-world-s-oldest-doodle-500-000-years-ago-1.16477 , date=2014-12-03, s2cid=164153158 {{Cite news, last=Thompson, first=Helen, title=Zigzags on a Shell From Java Are the Oldest Human Engravings, url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/oldest-engraving-shell-tools-zigzags-art-java-indonesia-humans-180953522/, access-date=2021-04-18, website=Smithsonian Magazine, language=en, date=2014-12-03 {{Cite news, last=Brahic, first=Catherine, title=Shell 'art' made 300,000 years before humans evolved, url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22429983-200-shell-art-made-300000-years-before-humans-evolved/, access-date=2021-04-18, website=New Scientist, language=en-US, date=2014-12-03 {{Cite news, last=Geggel, first=Laura 03, title=540,000-Year-Old Shell Carvings May Be Human Ancestor's Oldest Art, url=https://www.livescience.com/48991-homo-erectus-shell-tools.html, access-date=2021-04-18, website=livescience.com, language=en, date=2014-12-03 {{Cite news, last=Keim, first=Brandon, date=2014-12-04, title=World's Oldest Art Identified in Half-Million-Year-Old Zigzag, url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/141203-mussel-shell-oldest-art, access-date=2021-04-18, website=Adventure, language=en {{cite book , last1=Avital , first1=Tsion , title=The Confusion between Art and Design: Brain-tools versus Body-tools , date=2017 , publisher=Vernon Press , url=https://www.hit.ac.il/.upload/staff/Tsion_Avital/Scientists_in_nomans_land.pdf Archaeology of Indonesia Archaeological artifacts Paleolithic Acheulean Indonesian art Prehistoric art Works of unknown authorship Bivalves and humans Molluscs in culture Seashells in art History of East Java

Description

Interpretation

Controversy

See also

References