Nothing New Under the Sun Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dog teeth

Thousands of years before you could purchase a dogtooth purse, you could apparently acquire a dog tooth purse. Found near Leipzig, this artifact included over one hundred teeth, all aligned and facing the same direction. Though the actual purse had been destroyed by time, the pattern of the teeth match, according to scientists, to an outer flap to a handbag.

Dog teeth are not uncommon in archaeological finds. Often, graves would be found with people covered in dog tooth blankets, and jewelry and hair pieces commonly featured dog or wolf teeth. The purse, however, was a particularly unique find; never before had a device such as a purse been found from such an early time period.

Answer: Wood

The oldest wooden wheel was discovered in the Ljubljana Marshes in 2002. The wheel was part of an ancient pushcart, and though several similar wheels have been found throughout Europe, the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel was by far the largest and oldest ash wood wheel find. The axle, which attached to the wheel with a square hole (proving that it spun around with the wheel and not separately), was made of oak along with the wedges that attached to the wheel itself.

Though this incredible discovery was not made until 2002, the Ljubljana Marshes were found to contain pile dwellings in the late 19th century. In 2011, the area became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Answer: Areni-1 Shoe

Not only was the Areni-1 Shoe, discovered in 2008, the oldest leather shoe ever found, it was also one of the best-preserved specimens. The one-piece leather shoe was found to be several hundred years older than the leather shoe found with Italy's Otzi the Iceman, discovered in 1991. The shoe was found in excellent condition; even the shoe laces were still in near perfect condition. The cool, dry conditions of the cave that contained the shoe, as well as a thick layer of sheep dung the shoe was encased in, helped to perfectly preserve the leather shoe for 5,500 years. The shoe was filled with grass, but it is not known whether this was to insulate the shoe or to keep its shape while it was not being worn.

The shoe was found underneath a ceramic bowl, along with a broken pot and goat horns nearby. The oldest wine-making site was also found near the area, and in the same cave, storage containers were discovered with well-preserved edible plants, such as apricots.

Answer: Skirt

In the same Areni-1 Cave as the leather shoe was found, a reed skirt was also discovered. It was dated 400 years older than the leather shoe, and is believed to be both the oldest skirt and the oldest reed article ever discovered. A mummified goat was also discovered in the area with the skirt, and was determined to also be 5,900 years old. If this is correct, this proves that ancient Armenians mummified animals a full millennium before the Egyptians.

Answer: Copper

The copper awl was discovered in the grave of a seemingly important woman in Tel Tsaf, Israel. The awl was made of copper, and evidence of a wooden handle for the awl was also found. The awl was buried with a woman who had a belt made from over 1500 ostrich eggshell beads, and the grave was found inside a silo, which suggests that the woman was of great wealth or importance.

The awl was buried with her, and is therefore assumed to have belonged to her, and also suggesting the awl itself was of some importance.

Answer: Bow

I have a feeling an 8,000 year old wooden revolver would not be too effective; the Holmegaard elm bow, however, would have been. The discovery of an 8,000 year old bow was fascinating enough; but the find was so well preserved that it was possible to recreate the bow, and people have actually used it as a basis for many modern bows.

Though the bow was found to be 8,000 years old, there were actually surviving arrows discovered near the Holmegaard bows dating 3000 years prior - the bows used for these arrows, however, were likely made of pine and a lot less durable to the elements, and time, to survive.

Answer: Masks

The oldest masks ever to be discovered were a series of 12 limestone masks found in the hills of Judea near the Judean Desert. The masks are thought to represent dead ancestors and to have been used for religious ceremonies and magic rites. It is thought that these masks were painted, though only one of the twelve masks seems to have any color.

The weighty stone masks also have perforations along the edge, which is believed to either have been used for a cord to attach the mask to the face, or perhaps to put hair through it to give it a more human (albeit more creepy) appearance.

Answer: Map

Interestingly, a map dating 14,000 years old was discovered in Spain in 1993. (It wasn't identified as such for fifteen years, however). It was etched into a stone tablet five inches tall and seven inches wide, and was only one inch thick, which allowed the tablet to be light enough to carry if necessary.

The lead researcher claimed that the map matched the surrounding geography perfectly. It is believed that the map, which shows a variety of geographical features including the very cave it was located in, a mountain, and a river, was used to pinpoint the locations where certain objects useful to hunter-gatherers would be found.

Answer: Flute

Percussive instruments such as drums are among the oldest instruments ever discovered, but the bone and ivory flutes of Germany may well be the earliest form of instrument (and certainly the oldest of flutes). The bone flute from the Hohle Fels Cave was discovered in 2008, and is considered one of the oldest musical instruments in history; the age dated at least 35,000 years ago. Flutes from the Geißenklosterle Cave were carbon dated in 2012 as being even older: 42,000 years old.

The Slovenian Divje Babe flute, however, may be the oldest flute found at 43,000 years - this is disputed, though, as many believe it is simply a bone chewed up by a carnivore.

Answer: Arrowheads

The Holmegaard arrows of Denmark were found to be over 10,000 years old, but that is nothing in comparison to the age of arrowheads discovered in South Africa. These 64,000 year old stone fragments appear to be different than other stone arrowheads of ancient times, as they seem to be part of a projectile device rather than a spear held in the hand. Blood and bone remnants on the arrowheads help scientists better understand how these objects were used; traces of plant-based resin also suggest these arrowheads were attached to a wooden shaft of some sort.

This find from the Sibudu Cave proved that bow and arrow technology was quite possibly 20,000 years earlier than previously thought; the large gap in time from these arrowheads and others suggests, however, that the bow and arrow was not regularly used for millennia, and perhaps those of South Africa who used such weapons were possibly thousands of years ahead of their time.