Ancient humans had piercings just like us, archaeologists in Turkey find
Stone ornaments found at an 11,000-year-old burial site in southeast Turkey indicate that humans have been piercing their bodies since prehistoric times. These ornaments were discovered around the mouths and ears of skeletons, suggesting their use as piercings. This finding at the Boncuklu Tarla site, which dates back to when ancient humans settled for farming in the Fertile Crescent, provides the first evidence of their original use due to their placement on the skeletons. Wear on the lower teeth of some skulls also indicated lower lip piercings. The site, established by hunter-gatherers who gradually settled, has yielded over 100,000 artifacts, showing early societal formation and similarities between Neolithic people and modern humans in terms of self-presentation and concerns about appearance.