Bling-bling culture started with Stone Age cavemen up to 280,000 years ago.
A new scientific study says hunters loved to be dripping in luxury goods, and the taste for flashy trinkets may have been what turned humans from savages into a civilised society.
Beads, jewellery and ornaments found at a cave in Blombos, South Africa, are thought to be status symbols dating back up to 77,000 years.
Until now it had been thought that an interest in fancy accessories only started around 40,000 years ago.
The New Scientist report says the earliest nomadic hunters were far more civilised than thought previously. And the lust for bling led to an early pecking-order in which people with the right gear seemed more important.
The report said: "Mass consumerism may be a 20th century invention but its roots go back to the dawn of humanity.
"Prestige goods could be the first step on the road to modern civilisation, paving the way for agriculture and urbanisation. "No one believes the guy who spends £670,000 on a Bugatti Veyron does so because he needs to travel at 250mph.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1104798.html?menu=
A new scientific study says hunters loved to be dripping in luxury goods, and the taste for flashy trinkets may have been what turned humans from savages into a civilised society.
Beads, jewellery and ornaments found at a cave in Blombos, South Africa, are thought to be status symbols dating back up to 77,000 years.
Until now it had been thought that an interest in fancy accessories only started around 40,000 years ago.
The New Scientist report says the earliest nomadic hunters were far more civilised than thought previously. And the lust for bling led to an early pecking-order in which people with the right gear seemed more important.
The report said: "Mass consumerism may be a 20th century invention but its roots go back to the dawn of humanity.
"Prestige goods could be the first step on the road to modern civilisation, paving the way for agriculture and urbanisation. "No one believes the guy who spends £670,000 on a Bugatti Veyron does so because he needs to travel at 250mph.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1104798.html?menu=
