Neolithic finds from the Arctic Circle include stone piercing jewellery

At a site located 600 kilometres within the Arctic Circle, archaeologists discovered artefacts dating back to the 3rd or 4th millennium BC. The Neolithic site is located on Taymyr peninsula, on the bank of Novaya River, far North of Krasnoyarsk region in Russia.

A labret found on the site (by Siberian Times)
A labret found on the site (by Siberian Times)

Among the finds at the site were two pieces of ancient jewellery called labrets, that were placed in the body through piercing the face below the bottom lip. Such artefacts are  known to have been crafted from shell, bone or stone and used as body ornament for men and women in some cultures, particularly the ancestors of the western Eskimos, Aleuts, the North American Indians.  The artefacts were lying on the ground along with stone arrowheads, which were exposed by winds blowing away the upper layer of tundra and revealing the cultural layer. The type and technique of arrowheads enabled to date the finds. The Krasnoyarsk Geoarkheologia expedition which made the discovery is the first to Taymyr since 40 years.

Labret found in situ at the site (by Siberian Times)
Labret found in situ at the site (by Siberian Times)

(after Siberian Times)

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