The Oldest Items in the World

Since ancient periods, humans have always been interested in artifacts that pre-dated their time. Whether they are family heirlooms, museum relics, or items discovered on archaeological digs, these items provide a tangible glimpse into the materials, needs, and creative techniques of past eras.Some of the oldest relics are natural, like the earliest known dinosaur fossil or the world’s oldest tree. Others are man-made, like 40,000-year-old cave paintings that lack later artistic advancements. (These are the states with the most dinosaur discoveries.)

Humanity’s first attempts at architecture, music, and photography, while not always visually impressive, do reveal ingenious methods or simplicity. The earliest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce’s “View from the Window at Le Gras,” pioneered a new artistic medium despite its mundane subject.

Many of the oldest items in the world were not created for artistic analysis simply because they were either around long before humanity was around or because they were created naturally. This includes the oldest tree, over 5,000 years old, and the oldest known rock, which is slightly older than that — by about 230 million years.

Numerous ancient rocks and trees predate humanity entirely yet they are fascinating and invite awe as natural time capsules. When history books fall short, such relics let us connect more deeply with bygone times.

Here are the oldest items in the world

• Oldest: Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, “Au Clair de la Lune”
• Approximate Date: 1860 A.D.
• Location: Paris, France

Although many people believe Thomas Edison invented recorded sound, it appears that a French inventor named Édouard-Léon Scott made the breakthrough several years earlier. Scott patented his phonautograph in 1857. It is believed that Scott himself sang a part of the French folk song “Au Clair de la Lune” into his machine in 1860, creating the first known musical recording. Scott’s phonautograph and recordings weren’t discovered by historians until 2007.

• Oldest: Joseph Nicéphore Niépce’s “View from the Window at Le Gras”
• Approximate Date: 1826-1827 A.D.
• Location: Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, France

Technological advances have come a long way since the early 19th century, and though it’s not as clear as the photographs we see today, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce’s “View from the Window at Le Gras” was an astonishing development in technology. Likely taken in 1826 or 1827, the photo shows Niépce‘s estate in Burgundy, France. Niépce captured another image in 1822, but his “heliograph” of an engraving of Pope Pius VII was destroyed when he tried to copy it years later.

• Oldest: Behaim Globe
• Approximate Date: 1491 A.D.
• Location: Nuremberg, Germany

The Erdapfel, also known as the Behaim Globe and roughly translates to “earth apple” in German, was named for its creator, Martin Behaim. It wasn’t the first globe created, but it’s believed that it is the oldest surviving 3-D model of Earth. Though it was impressive for its time, the Behaim Globe was proved to be inaccurate soon after its creation. Christopher Columbus brought word of the Americas back to Europe shortly after it was finished.

• Oldest: University of Al Quaraouiyine
• Approximate Date: 859 A.D.
• Location: Fez, Morocco

Originally founded as a mosque, the University of Al Qaraouyine opened in 859. The mosque was established by Fatima Al-Fihri, the daughter of a wealthy merchant who used her inheritance to found the institution. It drew leading Muslim scholars to speak there. The building fell into disrepair, but Morocco’s culture ministry had it restored starting in 2012.

• Oldest: Stiftskeller St. Peter
• Approximate Date: 803 A.D.
• Location: Salzburg, Austria

Stiftskeller, the world’s oldest restaurant, is still operating in St. Peter’s Abbey in the same building it was founded more than 1,000 years ago. Some of the restaurant is carved into the stone cliffs near the original abbey. The historic restaurant claims that it has hosted numerous celebrities and royals. Stiftskeller also happens to reside in the same town where Mozart was born, so it hosts Mozart nights. Patrons can listen to professional renditions of the master composer’s works while dining.

• Oldest: The Speyer Bottle
• Approximate Date: 325-350 A.D.
• Location: Speyer, Germany

Storing wine bottles for a few decades is impressive, but what about a few centuries? People have enjoyed drinking wine for millennia, but it appears that no bottle has lasted as long as The Speyer Bottle in Germany. The bottle was buried in the tomb of a Roman noble around 325-350 CE and discovered, sealed with wax, in Speyer, Germany in 1867. Experts are unsure if the wine could stand the shock of being exposed to the air, though it may technically still be drinkable. Monika Christmann, a wine professor, said the contents of the bottle are “probably not spoiled, but it would not bring joy to the palate.”

• Oldest: Babylonian Map of the World
• Approximate Date: 700-500 B.C.
• Location: Babil Governorate, Iraq

The oldest known map depicts the Mesopotamian world and is inscribed on a tablet, which makes it difficult to fold and put in your pocket. Babylon is carved in the center of the map. Experts also identified places from antiquity such as Assyria. The lands on the map are circled by a body of water called the “Salt Sea.” A cuneiform text accompanies the map and describes the region with accounts of heroes as well as mythical beasts. The map was discovered in the late 1800s in Sippar, Iraq, and is housed in the British Museum.

• Oldest: The Etruscan Gold Book
• Approximate Date: 660-600 B.C.
• Location: Struma River, Bulgaria

Believed to be the oldest multi-page book in the world, the Etruscan Gold Book is made from six sheets of 24-carat gold and bound with rings. The plates are inscribed in Etruscan characters and show a horse, a horseman, a mermaid, and soldiers. The item was discovered in 1943 in a tomb while workers were digging a canal near the Struma River in Bulgaria. The book can be found in Bulgaria’s National History Museum in the capital city of Sofia.

• Oldest: Lydian Stater
• Approximate Date: 750-560 B.C.
• Location: Turkey

It’s believed the ancient kingdom of Lydia (now known as Turkey) was the first to use coins as currency well over 2,500 years ago. The coins, known as staters, were made of a naturally occurring gold and silver alloy called electrum, helping them stand the test of time. Lydia’s far reach helped spread the staters across Eurasia. In 2014, a diver in Bulgaria found one in the Black Sea.

• Oldest: Mycenaean Bridge at Kazarma
• Approximate Date: 1,300-1,200 B.C.
• Location: Arkadiko, Greece

Ancient architecture often stands the test of time, as evidenced by the Mycenaean Bridge at Kazarma. This bridge was built more than 3,000 years ago but is still used by modern Greeks. The arch bridge is an impressive feat of engineering, as it doesn’t use any type of adhesive to hold itself together. It was also built with curbs, presumably to keep speeding chariots from falling off.

• Oldest: Hurrian Hymn No. 6
• Approximate Date: 2,000-1,400 B.C.
• Location: Ugarit, Syria

Titled “Hurrian Hymn No. 6,” an ode to the goddess Nikkal, the oldest known written piece of music was created in 1,400 B.C. and found in the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit. The song was inscribed on clay tablets in cuneiform. Accompanying the song were instructions on how to play it on a lyre. Before the discovery of the hymn in the 1950s, music historians had believed the music scale was only about as old as the ancient Greeks.

• Oldest: Port of Urla Wreck
• Approximate Date: 2,000 B.C.
• Location: Izmir, Turkey

Experts believe the world’s oldest shipwreck was found at Turkey’s Urla Port. The ship, discovered by the Research Center for Maritime Archaeology at the University of Ankara, is estimated to be about 4,000 years old. The discovery was made by archaeologists from Ankara University in 2014. The port dates to the seventh century B.C., and because it was a coastal town, it is the site for many other sunken ships. An earthquake in the eighth century devastated the city, and it sank into the sea.

• Oldest: Egyptian Book of the Dead
• Approximate Date: 2,670 – 2,613 B.C.
• Location: Egypt

The Egyptian Book of the Dead was a set of instructions for deceased Egyptians to navigate through the tests they would encounter in the various stages of the afterlife. The paintings and texts were first found in tombs associated with Egypt’s Third Dynasty and date back more than 4,600 years. The book eventually became extremely popular, and individuals who fell ill would often commission their own copy. One completed copy was measured at more than 40 feet long.

• Oldest: White Mountains Bristlecone Pine
• Approximate Date: 3,050 B.C.
• Location: White Mountains, California

Scientists recently discovered that the oldest single tree in the world is 5,067 years old as of the 2017 growing season. The tree is a Bristlecone Pine, found in the White Mountains, California. It beats the previous record holder, Methuselah, also a Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva), which is located nearby. While the general location is known, the precise spot is a secret to keep the tree safe.

• Oldest: Neolithic Burnt Bread
• Approximate Date: 3,620-3,350 B.C.
• Location: Oxfordshire, England

Many of us have left bread in the oven a bit too long but we eventually rescue the burnt offering, only to throw it away. Perhaps it will be discovered one day and studied as an ancient artifact like the oldest food ever found. Believed to be a piece of burnt bread found in Oxfordshire, England, the 5,500-year-old overcooked bread was originally thought to be charcoal. Then an archeologist found crushed grains of barley, indicating that those inhabiting what would become England were practicing farming during the Neolithic era.

• Oldest: Tower of Jericho
• Approximate Date: 9,000 B.C.
• Location: West Bank, Palestine

The 11,000-year-old, three-story structure is connected to the ancient walls of Jericho in what is now the West Bank. The Neolithic-period tower was built near where the Bible says Satan tempted Jesus. Archeologists believe the building, which has a staircase, may have been constructed by ancient people to mark the summer solstice and seen as a symbolic protection against darkness.

• Oldest: The Chinchorro Mummies
• Approximate Date: 5,050 B.C.
• Location: Atacama Desert, northern Chile

Though Mummies are often associated with Egypt, the earliest instances of mummification were found in South America. The Chinchorro people of the Atacama Desert, which is now in Chile, mummified their dead — and not just the wealthy and powerful. Archaeologists say all dead Chinchorros were mummified, regardless of status. Though the remains were preserved, the mummies are now deteriorating due to bacteria.

• Oldest: Fort Rock Shoes
• Approximate Date: 8,970-7,700 B.C.
• Location: Fort Rock, Oregon

Even the new world has ancient findings as evidenced by the oldest shoes in the world found in Fort Rock Cave in Oregon in 1938. Anthropologist Luther Cressman discovered dozens of sandals under a layer of volcanic ash that scientists say came from the eruption of Mount Mazama 7,500 years ago. Fibers from the sandals were determined to be more than 9,000 years old. They were made of shredded sagebrush bark.

• Oldest: The Göbekli Tepe
• Approximate Date: 9,300 B.C.
• Location: Şanlıurfa, Turkey

Millennia before many of the most common religions of today were founded, worshippers attended the Göbekli Tepe in what is now Turkey. The site may have been constructed as a place to worship the star Sirius, based on its relative position to the star. Despite that hypothesis, it is unclear exactly what religion or belief system the temple served.

• Oldest: El Castillo Cave Paintings
• Approximate Date: 40,800 B.C.
• Location: El Castillo, Spain

The country that was home to Picasso and El Greco is also believed to be home to the world’s oldest cave paintings. A study by the University of Bristol, based on carbon-dating results in 2012, determined that the prehistoric dots and crimson-hued stencils in a cave on Spain’s northern coast are more than 40,000 years old. Archaeologists think Neanderthals could be the oldest painters. Neanderthals are thought to have lived in Europe until about 30,000 or 40,000 years ago.

• Oldest: Bone Flute
• Approximate Date: 41,000-40,000 B.C.
• Location: Hohle Fels Cave, Germany

More than 40,000 years before the dawn of recorded music, people were already crafting their own tunes. Scientists discovered flutes made out of mammoth bones in present-day Germany. They used radiocarbon tests to date the flutes at 42,000-43,000 years old. Though early humans probably didn’t have enough to make a symphony, scientists say the discovery proved that the Danube River area in Germany was a key place for humans to develop.

• Oldest: Krapina Eagle Talon Jewelry
• Approximate Date: 128,000 B.C.
• Location: Krapina site, Croatia

The oldest jewelry was found two years ago in Krapina, Croatia, and dates back to about 130,000 years old. This prehistoric bling, found at a Neanderthal site, is in the form of a necklace or a bracelet of eagle talons. The claws bear evidence of cut marks and polishing. Scientists believe the jewelry was used for ceremonial purposes.

• Oldest: The Jack Hills Zircon
• Approximate Date: 4.4 billion B.C.
• Location: Jack Hills, Australia

The oldest known materials of any kind on the planet are zircon crystals found in western Australia’s Jack Hills region that are 4.4 billion years old. Elements in these zircons suggest they came from water-rich, granite-like rocks. The presence of quartz as well as the result of isotopic studies of the materials suggests that continental crust was forming very early in Earth’s history and that tectonic activity was occurring as well.