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0 / 33 Fotos
Food preservation
- Humans living in the Qesem cave in Israel (pictured) 400,000 years ago used bones as a food preservation method.
© Getty Images
1 / 33 Fotos
Food preservation
- In 2019, researchers at Tel Aviv University discovered that these early humans wrapped fragments of deer bones with skin as a method to store the marrow. This proves that early humans had a sophisticated method of preserving food and didn’t just rely on what was available at the moment.
© Getty Images
2 / 33 Fotos
Medicine
- In China, ancient “dragon bones” were used to make medicine. It turns out these “dragons” were actually dinosaur fossils.
© Shutterstock
3 / 33 Fotos
Medicine
- “The calcium-rich bones were sometimes boiled with other ingredients and fed to children to treat dizziness and leg cramps. Other times they were ground up and turned into a paste applied directly to fractures and other injuries,” explains scientist Dong Zhiming.
© Getty Images
4 / 33 Fotos
Medicine
- Sadly, this means that a number of fossils were destroyed. Though identifying the areas where these “dragon bones” were dug out did help recover more fossils. As for the medicinal benefit of consuming these, it is yet to be proven.
© Getty Images
5 / 33 Fotos
Buttons
- Buttons are a popular object made with bones. Some of these, dating all the way back to 2000 BCE, have been unearthed at archaeological sites.
© Getty Images
6 / 33 Fotos
Buttons
- These objects had both functional and decorative purposes. Cattle shin bones were often used for their strength and durability.
© Getty Images
7 / 33 Fotos
Glue
- Bone glue is made by grinding animal bones into powder, then dissolving the powder in water. The solution is then evaporated and dried into a hard jelly.
© Shutterstock
8 / 33 Fotos
Glue
- Bone glue is traditionally used in woodwork and it was very popular among furniture makers in the 19th century. It saw a revival during the Second World War, as seen in this British poster.
© Public Domain
9 / 33 Fotos
Musical Instruments
- Fragments of ancient flutes were unearthed in the archaeological sites of Hohle Fels and Geissenklösterle in Germany. The famous Hohle Fels flute dates back 4,000 years.
© Getty Images
10 / 33 Fotos
Musical Instruments
- Ancient flutes made from swan wing bones, dating back 30,000 years, were found in Isturitz, France.
© Getty Images
11 / 33 Fotos
Musical Instruments
- Jawbone is a percussion instrument used in some Latin American countries. It’s made from the jawbone of an equine such as a donkey or horse.
© Getty Images
12 / 33 Fotos
Musical Instruments
- Guitar bone nuts and saddles are still used in acoustic guitars to this day. The use of bone (instead of plastic, for example) influences a guitar’s tone and its capacity to stay in tune.
© Getty Images
13 / 33 Fotos
Weapons
- Humans have been using bones as weapons for millennia. An example would be daggers made using pieces of bone.
© Getty Images
14 / 33 Fotos
Weapons
- The Clovis people in prehistoric North America are known to have crafted pointed projectiles.
© Shutterstock
15 / 33 Fotos
Weapons
- The Apaches used the jawbones of animals such as horses, elk, bears, and bison to fashion clubs.
© Shutterstock
16 / 33 Fotos
Housing
- Bones and tusks from wooly mammoths were used in the Upper Paleolithic period in Europe to build shelters.
© Getty Images
17 / 33 Fotos
Housing
- In South America, early humans would use the shells of glyptodons (massive armadillos) instead.
© Getty Images
18 / 33 Fotos
Religious sites
- There are a number of religious sites covered in bones. And we’re talking about human bones here. Europe, in particular, has many you can visit. Pictured is the Sedlec Ossuary, in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic.
© Shutterstock
19 / 33 Fotos
Food
- Bones have been part of our diets for a very long time. Bone marrow, in particular, is very rich in nutrients, and considered a delicacy in many culinary traditions.
© Getty Images
20 / 33 Fotos
Food
- In the Indian subcontinent, dishes such as nihari (a curry) makes use of beef or lamb shanks and bone marrow.
© Getty Images
21 / 33 Fotos
Food
- Other examples include the French pot-au-feu broth. Abgoosht, or dizi, is an Iranian stew that also makes use of bone marrow.
© Shutterstock
22 / 33 Fotos
Fertilizer
- Bone meal (ground animal bones) is rich in calcium and phosphorus, so it became a popular fertilizer in the mid-1800s.
© Shutterstock
23 / 33 Fotos
Fertilizer
- Bone meal, however, can also contain high levels of lead and even mercury. Nonetheless, it’s still used to this day as a fertilizer.
© Shutterstock
24 / 33 Fotos
Fortune telling
- Bones have been used in divination in many cultures for thousands of years. In ancient China, for instance, the bones of turtles, oxen, and water buffalo were used to predict the future. These are known as oracle bones.
© Getty Images
25 / 33 Fotos
Fortune telling
- Scapulimancy (divination using scapulae or speal bones) was also practiced in other cultures, including in Africa, Europe, and North America.
© Getty Images
26 / 33 Fotos
Bone china
- Porcelain’s composition is 100% mineral. Bone china, on the other hand, also includes bone ash as part of the mix.
© Shutterstock
27 / 33 Fotos
Bone china
- English potters developed it in the 1700s, and for many years it was exclusively produced in the UK. Currently, bone china is made in countries such as India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and China.
© Shutterstock
28 / 33 Fotos
Traditions
- The tradition of two people snapping a chicken wishbone apart while making a wish is believed to date back over 2,400 years, all the way back to the Etruscan civilization.
© Getty Images
29 / 33 Fotos
Gelatin
- Gelatin is a byproduct of bones, which has been used in cooking for centuries. And it’s not going anywhere!
© Shutterstock
30 / 33 Fotos
Farming tools
- The Cherokee were known to use shoulder blades from large animals to make shovels.
© Getty Images
31 / 33 Fotos
Farming tools
- In China, shovels were fashioned from oxen or pig bones. Sources: (NBC News) (Listverse) (Popular Science) (Science Focus) (Farm Progress) (Vice) See also: Fascinating facts about bone marrow
© Getty Images
32 / 33 Fotos
© Getty Images
0 / 33 Fotos
Food preservation
- Humans living in the Qesem cave in Israel (pictured) 400,000 years ago used bones as a food preservation method.
© Getty Images
1 / 33 Fotos
Food preservation
- In 2019, researchers at Tel Aviv University discovered that these early humans wrapped fragments of deer bones with skin as a method to store the marrow. This proves that early humans had a sophisticated method of preserving food and didn’t just rely on what was available at the moment.
© Getty Images
2 / 33 Fotos
Medicine
- In China, ancient “dragon bones” were used to make medicine. It turns out these “dragons” were actually dinosaur fossils.
© Shutterstock
3 / 33 Fotos
Medicine
- “The calcium-rich bones were sometimes boiled with other ingredients and fed to children to treat dizziness and leg cramps. Other times they were ground up and turned into a paste applied directly to fractures and other injuries,” explains scientist Dong Zhiming.
© Getty Images
4 / 33 Fotos
Medicine
- Sadly, this means that a number of fossils were destroyed. Though identifying the areas where these “dragon bones” were dug out did help recover more fossils. As for the medicinal benefit of consuming these, it is yet to be proven.
© Getty Images
5 / 33 Fotos
Buttons
- Buttons are a popular object made with bones. Some of these, dating all the way back to 2000 BCE, have been unearthed at archaeological sites.
© Getty Images
6 / 33 Fotos
Buttons
- These objects had both functional and decorative purposes. Cattle shin bones were often used for their strength and durability.
© Getty Images
7 / 33 Fotos
Glue
- Bone glue is made by grinding animal bones into powder, then dissolving the powder in water. The solution is then evaporated and dried into a hard jelly.
© Shutterstock
8 / 33 Fotos
Glue
- Bone glue is traditionally used in woodwork and it was very popular among furniture makers in the 19th century. It saw a revival during the Second World War, as seen in this British poster.
© Public Domain
9 / 33 Fotos
Musical Instruments
- Fragments of ancient flutes were unearthed in the archaeological sites of Hohle Fels and Geissenklösterle in Germany. The famous Hohle Fels flute dates back 4,000 years.
© Getty Images
10 / 33 Fotos
Musical Instruments
- Ancient flutes made from swan wing bones, dating back 30,000 years, were found in Isturitz, France.
© Getty Images
11 / 33 Fotos
Musical Instruments
- Jawbone is a percussion instrument used in some Latin American countries. It’s made from the jawbone of an equine such as a donkey or horse.
© Getty Images
12 / 33 Fotos
Musical Instruments
- Guitar bone nuts and saddles are still used in acoustic guitars to this day. The use of bone (instead of plastic, for example) influences a guitar’s tone and its capacity to stay in tune.
© Getty Images
13 / 33 Fotos
Weapons
- Humans have been using bones as weapons for millennia. An example would be daggers made using pieces of bone.
© Getty Images
14 / 33 Fotos
Weapons
- The Clovis people in prehistoric North America are known to have crafted pointed projectiles.
© Shutterstock
15 / 33 Fotos
Weapons
- The Apaches used the jawbones of animals such as horses, elk, bears, and bison to fashion clubs.
© Shutterstock
16 / 33 Fotos
Housing
- Bones and tusks from wooly mammoths were used in the Upper Paleolithic period in Europe to build shelters.
© Getty Images
17 / 33 Fotos
Housing
- In South America, early humans would use the shells of glyptodons (massive armadillos) instead.
© Getty Images
18 / 33 Fotos
Religious sites
- There are a number of religious sites covered in bones. And we’re talking about human bones here. Europe, in particular, has many you can visit. Pictured is the Sedlec Ossuary, in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic.
© Shutterstock
19 / 33 Fotos
Food
- Bones have been part of our diets for a very long time. Bone marrow, in particular, is very rich in nutrients, and considered a delicacy in many culinary traditions.
© Getty Images
20 / 33 Fotos
Food
- In the Indian subcontinent, dishes such as nihari (a curry) makes use of beef or lamb shanks and bone marrow.
© Getty Images
21 / 33 Fotos
Food
- Other examples include the French pot-au-feu broth. Abgoosht, or dizi, is an Iranian stew that also makes use of bone marrow.
© Shutterstock
22 / 33 Fotos
Fertilizer
- Bone meal (ground animal bones) is rich in calcium and phosphorus, so it became a popular fertilizer in the mid-1800s.
© Shutterstock
23 / 33 Fotos
Fertilizer
- Bone meal, however, can also contain high levels of lead and even mercury. Nonetheless, it’s still used to this day as a fertilizer.
© Shutterstock
24 / 33 Fotos
Fortune telling
- Bones have been used in divination in many cultures for thousands of years. In ancient China, for instance, the bones of turtles, oxen, and water buffalo were used to predict the future. These are known as oracle bones.
© Getty Images
25 / 33 Fotos
Fortune telling
- Scapulimancy (divination using scapulae or speal bones) was also practiced in other cultures, including in Africa, Europe, and North America.
© Getty Images
26 / 33 Fotos
Bone china
- Porcelain’s composition is 100% mineral. Bone china, on the other hand, also includes bone ash as part of the mix.
© Shutterstock
27 / 33 Fotos
Bone china
- English potters developed it in the 1700s, and for many years it was exclusively produced in the UK. Currently, bone china is made in countries such as India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and China.
© Shutterstock
28 / 33 Fotos
Traditions
- The tradition of two people snapping a chicken wishbone apart while making a wish is believed to date back over 2,400 years, all the way back to the Etruscan civilization.
© Getty Images
29 / 33 Fotos
Gelatin
- Gelatin is a byproduct of bones, which has been used in cooking for centuries. And it’s not going anywhere!
© Shutterstock
30 / 33 Fotos
Farming tools
- The Cherokee were known to use shoulder blades from large animals to make shovels.
© Getty Images
31 / 33 Fotos
Farming tools
- In China, shovels were fashioned from oxen or pig bones. Sources: (NBC News) (Listverse) (Popular Science) (Science Focus) (Farm Progress) (Vice) See also: Fascinating facts about bone marrow
© Getty Images
32 / 33 Fotos
Surprising uses for bones throughout history
From tools to food
© Getty Images
Bones are an essential body part for many animals, including humans. They provide structure, support the body, and enable mobility. Bones also store important minerals and produce red and white blood cells. But besides what bones do for animals themselves, have you considered how they've been useful to us over the course of world history?
Indeed, we have been using this rigid organ for various purposes throughout our time here on Earth. Bones have allowed us to build tools, and even play a role in food production and storage, among other uses. In this gallery, we explore the many ways bones have been used through the centuries. Click on to learn more.
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