Jewelry artifacts made from iridescent beetles says a lot about society in 60 B.C.
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Ryan Belnap
A necklace fragment made from iridescent beetles.
The moral of our next story might be that people have always liked shiny things. A team of archaeologists here in the Southwest have found jewelry artifacts made from iridescent beetles, apparently a status symbol in ancient times.
Turns out, it’s a discovery that says a lot about an important, transitional society around 60 B.C., and a universal connection to insects and the earth.
The Show spoke more about it with Michael Terlep, an archaeologist with the Kaibab National Forest who led the research.
Tom Mills
A green june beetle.
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