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We enjoy quite a few unprecedented technologies today, but much more of the stuff that we use has been around for ages. Ancient humans may not have been able to text or upload selfies, but they enjoyed everyday objects like flushable toilets, chewing gum, and nice purses just like we do.
To remind ourselves how good we have it, we created an extended list of the oldest examples of everyday objects. Keep in mind that these are only the oldest surviving examples of these objects – many of these may have existed or are known to have existed even earlier.
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#1
Oldest Prosthetic (3,000 Years Old)
This 3,000-year-old prosthetic was used to help someone in Egypt walk again. Tests carried out with a replica proved that it was a working, practical prosthetic, not just a cosmetic one.
Kirsten Kerkhof 2 years ago
Someone with their big toe missing, hopefully. And they used a replica, not the 3000-year-old one.
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Book Worm 2 years ago
I have to agree. This world is falling apart. (See you at the end game 🫡)
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Craig Boddys 2 years ago
Should have had this article on the list in this article. Same list been done to death for past 20 years on thousands of sites, some of which have the exact same copy-and-paste descriptions and pictures.
Though we cannot try on some of the oldest clothes to see how they looked on people for obvious reasons, it was a different case when people found an ancient written Chinese beer recipe that spiked an interest in recreating it. A group of students with Stanford archaeologist Li Liu in 2017 decided to brew a beer following a decoded recipe that is 5000 years old.
The result was described like this: “The ancient Chinese beer looked more like porridge and likely tasted sweeter and fruitier than the clear, bitter beers of today. The ingredients used for fermentation were not filtered out, and straws were commonly used for drinking,” said Liu.
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#2
Oldest Sunglasses (800 Years Old)
The world’s oldest sunglasses were discovered on Baffin Island in Canada. They were snow goggles, designed to reduce the sun’s glare reflecting from the snow.
Christmas love 2 years ago
I was thinking that too! How do they know that these are not?!
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#3
Oldest Condom (370 Years Old)
This sheepskin condom was used in 1640 in Sweden. The reusable condom came with instructions (in Latin) to clean it with warm milk to prevent users from catching STDs.
Tomáš Houdek 2 years ago (edited)
When I was in Cairo museum they showed us Tutankhamun's condom made from fine canvas, it was water tight and also had lace to secure it. It was some 2300 years old...
QuirkyKittyGirl 2 years ago
*In order to reuse, turn condom inside out, and shake the f**k out of it.
Ken Beattie 2 years ago
That's because the one in the picture is dried out.
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Elin Sandman 2 years ago
Of course it had to be Sweden… this is just what we needed to help our reputation. 😅
I guess not all of the findings are ones we would like to try on at all. For example, the oldest surviving condom should probably give it a rest at the rightful age of 370 years old. Though condoms are known to have been used for thousands of years, this is the oldest surviving example that looks nothing like what we use today.
#4
Oldest Globe (510 Years Old)
This old globe was painstakingly etched into the surface of an ostrich egg in Italy. Before its age and origin were verified, it had been sold to its current owner at a map fair in London in 2012.
zena bena 2 years ago
How did they make that with no space travel or satallites? Just through telescopes,pretty freakin amazing
María Hermida 2 years ago
I imagine it was like that game for kids, with a lot of numbered dots, where you have to link the dots in the right order to get an image. I guess sailors and navigators knew a lot of "dots" because they could measure position using the sun and the stars, and then a skilled map-maker linked all those dots to create a map. It's just a deduction, so it could be a load of nonsense, though. They must have had very good sense of orientation to find their way around the planet... and I get lost in my own city with a GPS!
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DonnerDinnerParty 2 years ago
510 years ago they knew the earth was round. Where the f**k did these flat earthers come from!?!
Tucker Cahooter 2 years ago (edited)
Kiwis and Taswegians appalled yet again at being left off
Secret Ant 2 years ago
That's a very strange ostrich 😂 i see at least 4 pieces joined together there. I don't buy that it's egg shells glued together.
#5
Oldest Written Recipe (5,000 Years Old)
“A Sumerian Beer recipe dating back to 3000 BC. The result beer is very strong and would contain chunks of bread floating around in it.”
Rachel Ainsworth 2 years ago
The beer wouldn't have contained chunks of bread when it was drunk. I'm sure our ancestors were also not fans of choking.
M O'Connell 2 years ago
It actually did contain the chunks, the beer was consumed from a tall vessel drinking with a straw from the bottom: Beer2-6476...2d9560.jpg 
Pickles, Pennies, & Ponies 2 years ago
Just the thought of soggy bread, gross.
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Your Neighborhood Alien 2 years ago
Someone tried making the recipe from memory, ended up with the cookie, and then inscribed the correct version so they wouldn't forget lol
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Anja Schmidt 2 years ago
Like the Egyptians: they loved beer that much , so they declared bees as holy because they needed honey and barley for brewing ...
Paul Neff 2 years ago
It might be good, it certainly was well liked enough back in the day to carve the recipe in stone.
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Another hot find was a medieval bra found in a castle. Though this is not gold or other treasures, for the archeologist Beatrix Nutz, it is as valuable, if not more. “It was found under the wooden floor between the first and second floors. Lengberg Castle was renovated in 2008 when they found a cavity filled with all sorts of rubbish. Among them were textiles that have been well preserved because it was very dry there. The most unusual pieces are a pair of panties and four brassieres made of white linen. These are the oldest bras found so far,” wrote Beatrix.
#6
Oldest Brassiere (500 Years Old)
This bra was used between 1390 and 1485 in Austria. Earlier historical descriptions for “breast bags” do exist, but they had never been seen.
Sue User 2 years ago
That actually does look comfy. I mean, when it was new.
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QuirkyKittyGirl 2 years ago
When it’s falling apart, but it’s your FAVORITE, so you wear it anyway.
Ann Coffman 2 years ago
Now we need the oldest Testy Nesty, aka Banana Hammock.
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Bunzilla 2 years ago
Further information: It was found with a stash of 'waste' during reconstruction work at Lengberg Castle in East Tyrol, Austria. They also found tailored trousers, buttoned shirts, and four modern-looking bras. They also had a semi-corset like section under the bra-like part. However, in ancient Greece, they also had 'apodesme', which were strips of fabric tied around the chest. Though they were likely only used during exercise. Roman women had versions called strophium. In ancient China, they had dudou, which was like a halter- top.
Kitten Dog Mom 2 years ago
The style hasn't changed in 500+ years. Time to remake the "over the shoulder boulder holder"¡
#7
Oldest Socks (1,500 Years Old)
These Egyptian wool socks, designed to go with sandals, were knitted between 300 and 499 AD and found in the 19th century.
David 2 years ago
I wear socks with sandals and don't care if some people feel judgmental about it. I dress for my comfort not theirs. In particularly hot places like the Philippines it makes the difference of whether my feet get sore / heels crack. And in Washington state there are many days where that extra bit of warmth is needed. I don't always where socks, but when I do it's for me. It amuses me when I see people wearing torn / stained jeans they purchased that way and other fads judging someone in a pair of socks. :)
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PattyK 2 years ago
Not knitted. They have been determined to be made by nalbinding, a precursor to knitting. Today, nalbinding is pretty much confined to Scandanavia. See Lisa Taylor’s reply.
MiTmite9 2 years ago
Thank you for this. I was having a hard time believing Egyptians wielded knitting needles.
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shanila.pheonix_ 2 years ago (edited)
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES(yes i'm trying to get our fellow bp friends to continue the song in the comments)
Load More Replies... QuirkyKittyGirl 2 years ago
They were made with "only two toes" because most of their sandals slipped between the big toe and the second toe, like flip-flops. This style of sock also exists in Japan.
Though all of the findings are fascinating in their own way, the only thought that comes into my head is how grateful I am for living in this day and age. And knowing that all things tend to evolve, I wonder what aspects of our current reality, which seem entirely ordinary to us now, will give future generations the creeps.
#8
Oldest Coin (2,700 Years Old)
The oldest known coin was found in the ancient Hellenic city of Efesos in Turkey. Its one (and only) decorated side features a lion’s head.
Fire Singer 2 years ago
Just out of curiosity, how do they know it was a coin? As in currency. What if it was an embellishment for a button or something? Or is it called a coin just because of its shape? Obviously they know more than me and I'm sure there's a lot more explanation not provided so I'm just curious. :)
Fred L. 2 years ago
There are lots of electrum coins available, those early coins like here with the obverse image being punched into the reverse. Coinage evolved over time, there are e.g. examples of coins from some city states showing the same symbol over centuries but process and details ever changing.
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Ąåřţđęşịɠŋȿ 2 years ago
I couldn't quite make out the details... o.k., lion's head. I see it now.
#9
Oldest Instrument (40,000 Years Old)
This 40,000-year-old vulture-bone flute was found in southern Germany. Some scientists believe that music may have given our ancestors a strategic advantage over Neanderthals.
Amity_Calamity 2 years ago
Omg I learned about this. I was studying how music has effected society, its a pretty cool topic thats worth looking into for anyone interested in music.
Lolly Gagger 2 years ago
I am curious to know if the claim that it is the oldest surviving instrument is actually verified. I would have thought a drums or a bow (much more primitive instruments and, hence, invented much earlier) would have survived the test of time even longer?
Gandalf the Pink 2 years ago
I think a flute is very difficult to come up with other uses beside music. Ancient rock gongs could be older but it's not easy to prove if they were used for music or something else. If I'm not mistaken this flute is the oldest surviving instrument where we have little doubt that it's anything but a musical instrument.
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[>.<]/ 2 years ago
Well akshually... the oldest instrument found is 60.000 years old and made by Neanderthals. https://www.nms.si/en/collections/highlights/343-Neanderthal-flute#:~:text=The%20oldest%20musical%20instrument%20in%20the%20world%2C%20a%2060%2C000%2Dyear,and%20has%20four%20pierced%20holes.
RedMarbles 2 years ago
Sounds like that one may not be a flute after all. “Most paleoanthropologists accept that the Divje Babe ‘flute’ is a carnivore-chewed bone, but you do see it referred to as a flute from time to time,” says April Nowell, an archaeologist at the University of Victoria in Canada. Was "Earliest Musical Instrument" Just a Chewed-Up Bone? https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/150331-neanderthals-music-oldest-instrument-bones-flutes-archaeology-science
Load More Replies... Momten Jillian 2 years ago
It lulled them into a trancelike state and then BOOM!!! club to the head. Evolutionary losers
Lisa Hathaway 2 years ago
This needs context. How did said instrument leverage homo sapiens survival? Did we charm them with our vulture flute whilst we plundered their villages?
RedMarbles 2 years ago
The argument is that the music would have strengthened social bonds, which could have helped them to organize their societies and expand more effectively than the Neanderthals.
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Kevin Hickey 2 years ago
https://i0.wp.com/arnoldzwicky.s3.amazonaws.com/FarSideCroMagnon.jpg?w=350
#10
Oldest “Flush” Toilets (2,000 Years Old)
Ephesus, an ancient city in Turkey, had “flushing” toilets. Running water below the seats carried waste away into a nearby river.
Mimi La Souris 2 years ago
worse, they wiped themselves with a collective sponge
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Crazy Nailzz 2 years ago (edited)
circa 26th century BC: Flush toilets were first used in the Indus Valley Civilization. In a few cities it was discovered that a flush toilet was in almost every house, attached to a sophisticated sewage system. King Minos of Crete had the first flushing water closet recorded in history, over 2800 years ago. So the above picture is definitely not the oldest, by far it is one of the oldest.
Auntriarch 2 years ago
Do the others still exist? I can't remember seeing them at Mohenjo-Daro, but I'm not sure we were shown all of it
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Anja Schmidt 2 years ago
not bad. Better than one of the disliked occupations: to change the waste of these toilets ...
M…. 2 years ago
I've been there. There was a long drop and running water would then sweep it out of town. They would send servants ahead to sit there and warm the marble. Sometimes men would then go and sit there all day doing business. The library, yeah there was a tunnel underground to the brothel across the street. If I remember right The Rolling Stones played the amphitheater before the realized the damage modern day was doing to it. They believe about 250,000 people lived there. They calculate that by the number of seats in the amphitheater. I guess that's standard way to calculate it, seats for 10% of the population.
Dee 2 years ago
The water running beneath ‘flushed’ away the waste, no handle required!
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Ericthedead 2 years ago
That’s how close together toilets are in prison. Maybe a little closer together.
Mommy Panda 2 years ago
I've been there, Ephesus is beautiful! Especially the library. So many details that have remained after 20 centuries
Hagebumi 2 years ago
In My hometown in Nothern Germany there ist a Nightguard (for Tourist) and he yells an old traditionell medieval saying in very old German: " Hiermit sei bekannt gemaket , daß niemand in den Fluß mehr kaket. Denn am Freitag wolln wir braun . Wer's trotzdem tut, der wird verhaun" (This is to make it known that no one shits in the river anymore. Because on Friday we want to brew beer. Anyone who does it anyway will be beaten up.) ;-D
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The Oldest Recorded Melody (3,400 Years Old)
The oldest surviving written melody was found in Ugarit, which is now part of Northern Syria. The music was written for the lyre.
Sooploosh MacSchnibble 2 years ago
That song always bothered me because it implied the daddy shark was bigger than the mommy shark, even though female sharks are usually significantly larger than males. Also, sharks don't live in families, but that's just ruining the fun.
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LokisLilButterknife 2 years ago
I believe that it may be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KElPnD-dbkk
Load More Replies... Tucker Cahooter 2 years ago
Translated it goes "Bird, bird, bird, bird is the word, bird bird, bird, bird is the word..."
LokisLilButterknife 2 years ago (edited)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64aouN2oohM
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#12
Oldest Sculpture Of A Human Form (35,000 – 40,000 Years Old)
At 35,000-40,000 years old, the Venus of Hohle is the oldest statue depicting a human figure. This mammoth-ivory figurine was found in Germany.
Auntriarch 2 years ago
Oh I don't know about that, I know at least one person who it could be
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Mary Kelly 2 years ago
big boobs, big vulva, no head...yes, it's clear that men have seen women this way for millenia
Blue Pearl 2 years ago
There’s a theory that Venus figurines are actually self portraits done by women who would glimpse down at themselves every now and then. This is also why nearly none of them have faces.
#13
Oldest Pants (3,300 Years Old)
The oldest pair of pants in the world is 3,300 years old, and it was found in Western China.
Tom Morrison 2 years ago
these look like somethine my hippie friends would wear, and about as clean too.
Momten Jillian 2 years ago
That guy or gal took a mortal blow to the their groin. That had to hurt
#14
Oldest Shoe (5,500 Years Old)
This 5,500-year-old cowhide moccasin was found in a cave in Armenia, preserved by grass and dry sheep dung. The left shoe was not found.
The happy frog 2 years ago (edited)
The left shoe was not found what if it was actually a really funny looking hat
Trond Hermansen 2 years ago
Differentiating between left and right shoes is a modern phenomenon.
#15
Oldest Chewing Gum (5,000 Years Old)
This chewing gum from Finland was chewed at least 5,000 years ago. The gum consists of birch bark, and was most likely used to heal mouth infections or to use as glue.
Anja Schmidt 2 years ago
cool how everyone knew how to heal himself but we run to drugstores :-/
Greenmantle 2 years ago
Perhaps far older could be found in Australia. Aboriginal people used the resin of certain eucalyptus as chewing gum and they have been here for upwards of 60 000 years. The gum has a jelly-like consistency, I'm not a fan of the taste though... verrry astringent
Strahd Ivarius 2 years ago
don't forget the use you intended for this gum, before using the "glue" version for infection cure...
#16
Oldest Purse (4,500 Years Old)
These dog teeth are all that remain of a disintegrated purse from roughly 4,500 years ago found in Germany. They were likely part of the outer flap.
Oh Gosh 2 years ago
As far as acquiring the teeth. Possibly after death or puppies do lose "milk" teeth and get adult teeth. I once found one of my dog's puppy teeth. But I think, and don't quote me on this, puppies usually end up swallowing the "milk" teeth.
Shyla Bouche 2 years ago
That's not true! The tooth fairy leaves them a milkbone under their bed!
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Tuesday's child 2 years ago
That is definitely not a purse, that's a rock with teeth in it (yuck)
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What do you think ?
OffKeySinger 2 years ago
I wish we could see more of that early globe. I imagine there's a "Here be dragons" somewhere on there.
OffKeySinger 2 years ago
I wish we could see more of that early globe. I imagine there's a "Here be dragons" somewhere on there.
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