When you pull out your phone to check the weather or tie your shoes, you’re using inventions that have roots stretching back millennia. In this top‑10 roundup we’ll travel through time to meet the top 10 oldest versions of everyday things that still echo in our lives today. Buckle up for a fun, fact‑filled ride through ancient coins, prehistoric footwear, early recipes, and more – all presented with a wink and a nod to the clever humans who first dreamed them up.
10 The Oldest Known Coin
The champion of ancient currency is the Lydian stater, a dazzling electrum piece that first struck the metal around 600 BC in what we now call western Turkey. Electrum – a naturally occurring gold‑silver alloy – gave the coin a honeyed glow, and its design featured a proud lion’s head on the obverse while the reverse bore the hammer‑mark where artisans punched the blank.
Archaeologists uncovered this treasure in the ruins of Ephesus, a bustling Hellenic port that later became the modern Turkish town of Selçuk. Though the Lydian stater claims the title of oldest surviving coin, the concept of money predates it by centuries. The earliest recorded monetary system stems from Mesopotamia, where the shekel emerged as a weight measure around 3000 BC before evolving into silver bars and eventually minted coins.
Before metal money, early societies relied on commodity money – objects like cowry shells that held intrinsic value. These shells floated across trade routes in places like ancient India, proving that the human urge to assign value to objects is as old as civilization itself.
9 The Oldest Shoe Ever Found
Footwear may seem modern, but archaeologists have unearthed a 5,500‑year‑old leather shoe in the depths of a cave in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor province. Known as the Areni‑1 shoe, this single‑piece, laced sandal was discovered in 2008 and has survived remarkably well, thanks to a protective blanket of sheep dung that created a cool, dry environment.
The shoe’s companion never turned up, but the lone specimen tells a vivid story. Inside the cavity, researchers found remnants of grass, likely used as insulation or to help the shoe retain its shape when not worn. Alongside the shoe, they recovered sealed containers holding wheat, apricots, and barley, offering a snapshot of everyday life in the Bronze Age.
Its design—a simple leather upper tied with laces—mirrors the Opanci, a traditional Balkan shoe still worn today. The Areni‑1 shoe demonstrates that even in prehistoric times, people valued comfort, protection, and style for their feet.
8 The Oldest Known Recipe For A Drink (Yes, It’s Beer)
Beer may be the world’s most beloved fermented beverage, but its roots plunge deep into pre‑history. Archaeologists trace the earliest brewing activity to around 10,000 BC in Mesopotamia, where pottery shards reveal remnants of grain‑based fermentation.
The first written mention of beer appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh, dated somewhere between 3500 and 2500 BC. The Sumerians, keen brewers, documented at least eight barley‑based recipes and an equal number made from wheat, showcasing a sophisticated understanding of fermentation.
The oldest surviving beer recipe comes from a 1800 BC hymn to Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer. This poetic hymn doubled as a brewing manual, guiding apprentices through the steps of malting, mashing, and fermenting. Though techniques have modernized, the core ingredients and processes remain strikingly similar to those ancient brewers.
7 The Oldest Recipe For Food
While beer’s ancient recipe dazzles, the world’s oldest known culinary formula predates it by a solid 2,000 years. Researchers at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff uncovered a recipe for nettle pudding dating back to roughly 6,000 BC, making it the earliest documented food preparation.
The recipe calls for a garden‑fresh medley: sorrel, watercress, dandelion leaves, young nettle leaves, chives, barley flour, and a pinch of salt. All of these ingredients grow wild or can be cultivated today, meaning you could recreate this prehistoric delicacy in your own kitchen.
To prepare, the greens are layered and bound in linen or muslin cloth, then tied with a long string. The bundle is boiled for at least two hours, often with a joint of boar or venison for added richness. Once cooked, the pudding is sliced and served alongside barley bread, offering a taste of ancient nutrition and flavor.
6 Oldest Musical Instrument
Music is a universal language, and its earliest notes echo from a time over 42,000 years ago. In Germany’s Swabian Jura, archaeologists uncovered two flutes inside the Geissenkloesterle Cave – one carved from a bird bone, the other from mammoth ivory – offering a glimpse into Upper‑Paleolithic soundscapes.
These instruments were found in a region once thought to be a key corridor for human migration and technological exchange between 40,000 and 45,000 years ago. The flutes predate the previously held record, a 35,000‑year‑old vulture‑wing bone flute discovered in the Hohle Fels cavern, also in southern Germany.
Both sets of flutes demonstrate that early humans possessed both the skill to shape delicate materials and the creative impulse to produce music, laying the foundation for the rich musical traditions we enjoy today.
5 The Oldest Prosthetic Device
Even ancient societies faced limb loss, and they responded with ingenuity. In 1997, a wooden and leather prosthetic toe was discovered in a tomb near Luxor, Egypt, and now resides in the Cairo Museum. Radiocarbon dating places the artifact around 1000 BC.
Analysis shows the prosthetic belonged to a woman and bore clear signs of long‑term use. The toe was refitted multiple times, suggesting a sophisticated approach to comfort and function. Such craftsmanship implies that other Egyptians likely employed similar devices, although no other examples have survived.
This early prosthetic illustrates how the desire to restore mobility and independence is a timeless human concern, echoing modern advances in biomedical engineering.
4 The Oldest (Reusable) Condom
Modern condoms are made from latex, but the quest for contraception stretches back far earlier. The oldest known reusable condom, dated to 1640, was excavated in Lund, Sweden, and fashioned from pig intestine – a material similar to the lambskin still used for those with latex allergies today.
Accompanying the artifact was a Latin owner’s manual that advised washing the condom in warm milk to maintain hygiene, acknowledging its limited disease‑prevention capabilities. Though this specimen is the oldest physically recovered condom, depictions of condom‑like devices appear in French cave paintings dating to around 11,000 BC.
This find underscores humanity’s long‑standing ingenuity in protecting reproductive health, even before the advent of modern manufacturing techniques.
3 The Oldest Recorded Tune
Music’s ancient roots are evident in artifacts, yet only a handful of actual notations have survived. The oldest known fragment is a 4,000‑year‑old Sumerian clay tablet bearing a hymn to ruler Lipit‑Ishtar – though incomplete, it reveals early melodic structure.
The earliest complete composition is the Hurrian Hymn No. 6, an ode to the goddess Nikkal, inscribed in cuneiform around the 14th century BC. The tablet includes musical notation that enables modern scholars to reconstruct the melody on a lyre, offering a rare auditory window into Bronze‑Age culture.
While the lyrics remain partially obscured, the music itself has been interpreted and performed, allowing us to hear a piece of art that resonated over three millennia ago.
2 Oldest Map Ever Found
Maps are the ancient ancestors of today’s GPS, and the oldest surviving world representation is the Imago Mundi, a Babylonian clay carving dating between 500 and 700 BC. This schematic places Babylon at the centre, surrounded by Assyria, Elam, and a “Salt Sea” rim, all annotated in cuneiform mythological text.
The earliest known geographic map, however, is the Turin Papyrus Map from around 1150 BC. Created by the Egyptian scribe Amennakhte, it details a quarry expedition ordered by Pharaoh Ramses IV, providing a remarkably accurate top‑down view of the terrain.
The oldest surviving terrestrial globe, the Erdapfel, was crafted by Martin Behaim in 1492. Though it omits the Americas and includes mythical lands, it marks a pivotal moment in cartographic history, bridging medieval maps and modern globes.
1 The Oldest Phallus Known To Exist
Sexual expression has ancient origins, and the oldest known dildo dates back roughly 30,000 years. Archaeologists dubbed this stone phallus the “Ice‑Age baton.” It was discovered alongside other artifacts in a German cave, suggesting both erotic and utilitarian uses, possibly even as a hammerstone.
A more refined example, found in the same region, is a polished siltstone phallus from Hohle Fels Cave, showcasing sophisticated carving techniques. Additional finds include a stag‑antler phallus dated between 4,000 and 6,000 BC, measuring 10.5 cm in length and 2 cm in diameter, illustrating the continuity of sexual symbolism across millennia.
These artifacts remind us that human curiosity about pleasure is as ancient as our earliest tools, weaving a thread through the tapestry of cultural evolution.