Green reapers

First farmers cultivated an interest in green stone beads

Fledgling farmers in the Middle East treasured ornamentation as much as irrigation. These ancient villagers traveled great distances to obtain green stone for making beads and pendants that held special meaning for them in a brave new agricultural world, a new study finds.

GREEN REVOLUTION Scientists found that green beads (like the ones shown) emerged in large numbers with agriculture some 11,000 years ago.