4,000 year old children's rattle beautifully crafted as bear cub's head: and it still rattles!

1/7. 'This is a clay rattle with a visible well-made handle - handy for a child to hold it.' Picture: Lyudmila Mylnikova / Institute of Archaeology and Etnography SB RAS

Find-of-the-year by Novosibirsk archeologists is a toy that entertained prehistoric babies.

The remarkable discovery of one of the oldest toys in the world came from excavations at a Bronze Age settlement in modern-day Novosibrirsk region.

Inside it - and it remains sealed - are little stones 'that make a jingling sound', said Professor Vyacheslav Molodin, deputy head of Novosibirsk Institute of Archeology and Ethnography.

He told The Siberian Times: 'This is a clay rattle with a visible well-made handle - handy for a child to hold it. It was constructed by clay firing, it is hollow inside. There are little stones inside. We don't know what kind of stones these are, but we will be doing an X-ray to find out. The rattle is still working.'

The exciting find at the Vengerovo-2 archeological complex dates to the third millennium BC, making it between 3,800 and 4,000 years old. Might it even include the sculptor's signature? ...


Actualización: Vídeo. Archaeologists find ancient toy in Russia - PressTV