The South African cave associated with 72,000-year-old beads and early evidence of personal ornamentation is Blombos Cave. It is an archaeological site on the southern Cape coast, about 300 kilometres east of Cape Town.
Excavations have recovered more than 70 perforated marine shells from Middle Stone Age layers. The shells belong to the sea snail Nassarius kraussianus, and wear patterns show that they were likely strung on cord or sinew and worn as ornaments. Their deliberate selection, perforation and use-wear provide evidence of symbolic behaviour by early Homo sapiens.
Blombos Cave is important because it preserves far more than beads. Researchers have found engraved ochre, bone tools, pigment-processing equipment and heat-treated stone artefacts. A fragment bearing an abstract ochre drawing has been dated to about 73,000 years ago, adding to the evidence for early symbolic expression.
The phrase “earliest” needs care: other African and Middle Eastern sites have also produced very early ornaments. Blombos remains the canonical answer for the famous 72,000-year-old bead discovery.