In doing so, they identified highly consistent patterns that couldn\u2019t have been random or improvised\u2014meaning these prehistoric humans had a fairly good grasp of geometry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are talking about people who did not simply draw lines but organized them according to recurring principles\u2014parallelisms, grids, rotations, and systematic repetitions,\u201d Silvia Ferrara, a historian at the University of Bologna in Italy, said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Neither rock nor paper <\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time researchers have found prehistoric humans using ostrich shells in unique ways. For example, in 2020, University of Michigan researchers hypothesized<\/a> hunter-gatherer groups in southern Africa gifted ostrich eggshell beads to their significant other around 33,000 years ago.<\/p>\n Earlier in 2010, researchers had noticed<\/a> odd engravings on ostrich eggshells from more than 60,000 years ago. Subsequent research even took steps to classify<\/a> some of them according to their \u201cshared geometric characteristics,\u201d according to the new study. But that was about it, as there hadn\u2019t really been any exploration of whether these patterns reflected \u201cgenuine cognitive structuring\u201d in early humans, the paper noted. The researchers aimed to address this gap in the new study.<\/p>\n A pattern in shapes <\/p>\n For the latest analysis, the researchers created a thorough reconstruction of the eggshell engravings. Then, they determined key geometric variables, such as distinct angles, groups of parallel lines, or repeated use of hatches, grids, or diamond-shaped motifs. From these steps, the team assessed how intentional these markings were based on spatial organization, or the overall harmony of all the etchings on the shell.<\/p>\n Fascinatingly, the team\u2019s statistical analysis revealed that more than 80% of the configurations drawn on the shells had coherent spatial regularities. Simpler compositions featured repeated use of right angles and groups of parallel lines. More intricate patterns displayed an apparent understanding of rotation, translation, or repetition, the study added.<\/p>\n \u201cThese engravings are organized and consistent and show mastery of geometric relationships,\u201d Ferrara noted. \u201cThere is not only a process of repeating signs; there is real visuo-spatial planning, as if the authors already had an overall image of the figure in mind before engraving it.\u201d<\/p>\n Abstractionism has always been cool <\/p>\n The team believes the analysis demonstrates ancient humans could \u201cconstruct visual configurations structured according to specific rules,\u201d which would be a \u201ckey indicator of the emergence of abstract thought.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the researchers aren\u2019t sure yet if there\u2019s any meaning to these markings. There is, of course, the fact that we cannot travel back in time to ask these early artists if they had such \u201cspecific rules\u201d in mind. That is, although the new analysis is thorough in a statistical sense, the conclusions remain for the most part hypothetical.<\/p>\n Still, if art (or math?) history is any guide, our affinity for neat, geometric alignments must come from somewhere. For what it\u2019s worth, as someone who loves both art and math, I\u2019d say I\u2019m quite open to the idea that some of this love came from ancient ostrich shells.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ostrich eggs are huge. Big enough, in fact, for ancient humans to use them as primitive writing surfaces…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":619004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8],"tags":[161551,86568,159,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-619003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-geometry","tag-human-evolution","tag-science","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116140514232955244","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Ostrich](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ostrich-eggshell-pattern-tracing-1280x589.jpg\")
An example of how the researchers traced the patterns engraved on ostrich eggshells. \u00a9 Ferrara et al., 2026 <\/p>\n