News Archaeology

A child’s ornate necklace highlights ancient farmers’ social complexity

It was likely buried around 9,000 years ago with a child who held significant social status

An ornate neckleace made of multiple symmetrical strings of beads, with a pendant and mother-of-pearl-ring at opposite ends

This impressive necklace, reassembled from beads, a pendant and a mother-of-pearl ring, was found in a child’s grave at an ancient Middle Eastern farming village. Black foam tubes replace poorly preserved beads in this reconstruction.

H. Alarashi et al/PLOS ONE 2023

By Bruce Bower

A Middle Eastern child interred in a stone-lined grave around 9,000 years ago wore an elaborate necklace that illustrates the complexity of social life in an early farming community, researchers say.