Here are 15,000 years of history encapsulated in one little keychain! This intricate, articulating artwork depicts an archaeological "tell"; a mound created by the accumulated materials of centuries of human habitation. The advantages of a geographical site, coupled with habit, have caused successive cultures to build directly on the ruins of their predecessors, resulting in such mounds*, which preserve a remarkable record of the development of civilization.

This Tell rests on a site that has been occupied for a long time indeed! On the underside of the lowest layer, are stone tools dating to the upper Paleolithic, more than 15,000 years in the past. Above this are the remains of settlements from the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. Each culture that has lived here has left its legacy of structures and artifacts, allowing us to trace the development, through time, of agriculture, written language, metallurgy and other technologies, and art.

Comes with a diagram, and complete description of the objects and structures embedded in the layers of the tell. A unique educational accessory, sure to delight archaeologists, anthropologists and anyone who appreciates the gifts of civilization!

*These mounds are most often referred to by the Arabic/Hebrew term "tell" (sometimes transliterated as "tel"), however the Turcic terms Höyük and Tepe are often used in Anatolia (for example, the famous sites of Çatalhöyük and Göbekli Tepe).