"Now, about the "jewelry" ~ unless it's been handpolished, carved into a recognizable animal or human form, had a hole drilled in it to hang on a thong, it ain't art."
The 'Hobbits' (on Flores Island) have been pretty much accepted to have been Homo-Erectus and one was buried with an 80,000 year old 'well-worn' shell necklace. 'Art' goes way back.
Hand polished?