Archaeological Engravings Reveal Human Use of Geometric Shapes 60,000 Years Ago

A recent archaeological study revealed that humans who lived in southern Africa more than 60,000 years ago engraved ostrich eggshells with organized geometric patterns, indicating early capacities for planning, shape organization, and abstract thinking. The Syrian official news agency (SANA), citing the scientific website Science Daily, reported that researchers from Italy’s University of Bologna analyzed 112 ostrich eggshell fragments recovered from archaeological sites in South Africa and Namibia, with their findings published in the journal PLOS One. The study showed that the engravings were not random; they included parallel lines, right angles, grids, and repeated, organized shapes. Researchers employed geometric and statistical methods to analyze the orientation of lines and angles on the shells. They found that more than 80% of the engravings displayed regular patterns, while some fragments featured more complex designs based on the repetition, rotation, and arrangement of shapes into coherent patterns. The researchers explained that these results suggest that humans at that time were not drawing random lines but organizing them according to specific visual rules, and perhaps visualizing the final design they intended to create before beginning the engraving. These engravings provide new evidence for the development of abstract thinking in humans around 60,000 years ago, demonstrating that the ability to organize shapes and symbols according to defined rules dates back to an early stage in human history.