The history of humanity can be traced back through the history of objects - sculptures, musical instruments, tools, and devotional treasures. Scroll on to discover some of the earliest known human-made objects we've yet found.
This bone flute is the oldest known musical instrument in the world. Found in the Divje Babe cave in northwestern Slovenia in 1995, the flute is thought to have been made by Neanderthals around 40,000 years ago. This incredible find shows that pre-historic cultures had an appreciation for music and gives us a tantalizing glimpse into Neanderthal life 40 millennia ago.
Printed in the late 7th century, the St Cuthbert Gospel is the oldest European book still in existence. For centuries, the book lay in the coffin of St Cuthbert, an early Christian leader buried on the island of Lindisfarne, England around 698 CE. The book still retains its original red leather exterior and is beautifully preserved from cover to cover.
Made around 9,000 years ago in the Judean Hills region of the Middle East, this incredible mask was painstakingly carved from solid stone. Probably used in Stone Age rituals, the mask may have represented dead ancestors or been used to tell stories. Originally, the mask would have been complete with a head of real hair, adding a further sense of uncanniness to what is already a rather eerie object.
Found in the city of Uruk in modern day Iraq, this stone tablet is thought to be the oldest payslip in the world. Dating back 5,300 years, the tablet is written in cuneiform, an early version of pictorial writing. It dates from a time before token money existed and essentially shows how much beer each employee is owed for their labor, making it the first record of payment yet discovered.
One of the oldest stone structures in the world can be found in Göbekli Tepe, close to Şanlıurfa, southern Turkey. Dating back to around 9,000 BCE, the Neolithic site is made up of a number of large circular structures supported by huge, richly decorated stone pillars.
As this part of the world was among the first to see humans evolve from hunter gatherers into farmers, it offers a unique insight into the dawn of modern civilisation and the lives of early man. The entire site is part of one large attraction, making this one of the oldest museums on Earth.
Made from mammoth ivory, the Venus of Hohle Fels is the oldest undisputed example of a depiction of a human being. Dating back between 35,000 and 40,000 years, the figure is from the Upper Palaeolithic period and is one of a number of mammoth ivory artefacts discovered in the caves of the Swabian Alb region of Germany.
Learn more about ancient Cuneiform writing here.
For millennia, humans have been making things, breaking things, and burying them in the ground. And over the past few centuries, archaeologists have been digging them up. Thanks to their work, we can travel the world's museums and marvel at some of the oldest objects ever found.
There's nothing quite like the feeling of a human connection across history, and there's nothing quite like being delivered the wrong grade of copper. At the British Museum you can see a 4000 year old complaint from one ancient Babylonian merchant to another.
It reads: "Tell Ea-Nasir: Nanni sends the following message: When you came, you said to me: "I will give fine quality copper ingots." You left, but you did not do what you promised me. You put ingots which were not good before my messenger…"
And in a room nearby, you can find one of the earliest mentions of beer. This clay cuneiform tablet was made around 3100–3000BCE in southern Iraq, known as Mesopotamia, and the text records how much beer was given to workers as part of their daily rations.
Çatalhöyük is believed to be one of the oldest settlements in human history. It dates to a time before civilisation as we know it: before writing, cities, or even agriculture. There were no temples or palaces. It seems the people here lived in unparalleled social equality.
This modern recreation of one of the Çatalhöyük homes shows how sparse and simple these little dwellings were. Each house had a simple oven, storage space, and bed platform made from clay, and was accessed from the roof by a ladder.
The remains of five bows dating to the Mesolithic era were discovered at Holmegårds Mose, Denmark, and are now held at the National Museum. By modern standards, the designs are simple and ineffective but unbelievably they would have been used to bring down enormous wild aurochs.
The curious stone structures of Göbekli Tepe, Turkey, have baffled archaeologists ever since they were uncovered in 1994. At the time, nobody expected to find megalithic monuments dating to a time before the existence of cities. This discovery has rewritten the history books.
The small German town of Blaubeuren is home to the oldest known human figurine. The enigmatic 'Venus of Hohle Fels' was discovered in 2008 in a cave in nearby Schelklingen, and is dated to between 28,000 and 33,000 years old.
The statue is small, only a few centimetres, and made of mammoth ivory. It depicts an exaggerated female body, with large buttocks, breasts, and prominent genitals. Similar figures are found across central Europe, and are believed to represent a shared matriarchal culture.
Even older than the Venus of Hohle Fels is this, the so-called Lion-Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel. Interestingly, this was found not far from the Venus, but dates to nearly 5000 years previously, showing that complex cultures have inhabited the area for an unimaginably long time.
At 3.3 million years old, tools unearthed at Lomekwi are the oldest stone tools ever discovered - older than humanity itself. The tools were used by an unknown and extinct, but advanced, species of hominin. They're now held at the National Museum of Nairobi.
The oldest water on earth was extracted from a borehole 2.4km deep. A billion-year-old sample is now held at Ingenium, part of the Canada Science and Technology Museum. Explore the Museum here.
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Bedouin nomads have long associated the valley with spirits known as Djinns. Click to enter, if you dare...
These travellers may be risking their lives! The Farafra Desert is known by local tourguides to be haunted by the cursed ghost of Pharaoh Akhenaten, who angered the ancient Egyptian priests when he abolished and desecrated their traditional gods.
Make your way through the woods towards the break in the Vltava and Otava rivers and you'll find a spooky surprise.
Zvíkov Castle, haunted by spectral dogs and the Zvíkovský Rarášek, a kind of magical imp. There are frequent reports of cameras breaking, fires extinguishing, and animals behaving strangely. It's said that people who sleep in the tower will die within a year!
No records survive to tell us when Agrasen Ki Baoli step well was first built, but it must be at least 600 years old. Its shadowy arches and crevices are now home to bats and insects. It's said that people coming to collect water were often called by a disembodied voice.
The ruins of the Hell Fire Club on Mount Pelier Hill are those of the first Freemason lodge in Ireland. Originally there was a prehistoric passage grave on the summit. Perhaps unwisely, stones from the grave were taken and used in the construction of Mount Pelier lodge.
A real bone chiller. Snaking underneath the city of Paris is a network of small, dark tunnels, cut by hand and lined with the bones of millions upon millions.
The catacombs were dug at the end of the 18th century, as the city's cemeteries literally overflowed with dead.