Etsy

Monday 4 February 2013

The world’s oldest chad



The world’s oldest chad is over 7, 000 years old. It was found by archaeologist Shrivnee Bambaclart, on a dig near the site of the Sphinx in Egypt in 2001. “I can categorically state that this is a chad, and not a simple disc of paper,” said Bambaclart, announcing her discovery, “Electron Microscope analysis of its edges reveals that it was punched and not cut from a larger sheet of papyrus. What is truly fascinating, though, is that it predates the use of papyrus in Egypt, and certainly predates the use of even the most primitive of hole-punchers. I truly believe that this may represent a link to the truth behind the legend of Atlantis.”
The chad is analysed under electron microscopes at laboratories in Cyprus in 2002. Bambaclart's team, afte confirming the age of the chad, are planning to return to the dig site to confirm rumours of similarly-aged staples. Photograph by Robert Scoble.

©2013 James Mathurin