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11 · Treasure · regional prehistory

Ishango, without genealogical shortcut

Composite tool from Ishango

This tool combines bone, a quartz point and incisions whose function remains under discussion.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Image 1 of 2 · Main image
DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS

Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis

AI REPLICA · consult official image for object study

Image 1 of 2 · Main image
Technical frontal and lateral drawing of the Ishango tool with a ten-centimetre scale
DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS

Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis

AI REPLICA · consult official image for object study

History and context

The tool, about ten centimetres long, combines bone, a quartz point and incisions. It was found in 1950 beside Lake Edward.

Its function has generated hypotheses of counting, recording or decoration. None allow it to be attributed to identifiable Batwa ancestors.

Evidence and interpretation

Fact sheet and scientific portal of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date
More than 20,000 years; context ca. 25,000–20,000 BP
Location
Ishango, Congolese shore of Lake Edward, DRC; today Brussels
Material
bone, quartz and incisions
Context
Regional context without Batwa ethnic attribution.
Curatorial reading
The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Dossier axis
treasures
Research record
BATWA · treasure-ishango-tool
Documentary coverage
2 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

THE CURRENT OBJECT

Its date is not sufficiently established to place it on the timeline. We keep it here, separate from the dated objects.

Bone6 dated objects

1 / 6In the centre: Hohle Fels flute

Also connected, without a comparable date (2)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

  • Bone needlePrehistory · No individual dating published on this record
  • Oracle bonesAncient China · from ca. 1200 BCE

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .

There is a second rod

In 1959 another incised bone appeared in the same stratigraphic layer as the first. The Belgian museum’s presentation also considers it a possible handle, although in this case it does not retain quartz. Jean de Heinzelin distinguished ninety incisions of different lengths and proposed relationships with counts in base six and ten. The museum notes that its study was never published. Comparing both finds adds a verifiable problem: counting marks is a material observation; reconstructing the system by which someone produced them remains an interpretation.

Where it is held

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

The institutional fact sheet identifies the Ishango piece in the institute’s collections; no permanent exhibition is assumed on the date of the visit.

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

Expand this information and consult its sources

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