World's oldest smiley face on the 4,000-year average

Archaeologists unexpectedly discovered a 4,000-year-old smiley face painted on a vase found in southern Turkey.

The decorative smiley vase is an artifact excavated during a 7-year excavation at a site in the middle of the Turkish border - the Syrian, Independent yesterday reported.

The vase painted smiling faces from 4,000 years ago.(Photo: Independent).

The bottle is white with a short neck, a bulging body and small handles. Found in a crypt, the jar used to contain a sweet, juicy beverage and dates back to 1700 BC.

"In the ancient ceramics art in the region, there is no example similar to the smiling face on the vase," said Dr. Nicolo Marchetti of the University of Bologna, who directed the excavation team of Turkish archaeologists. and Italy, said.

Archaeologists only recognize the smiley face when they take the vase to a laboratory to restore it.

A total of 25 experts participated in excavation in the site of a long history. In addition to the vase, they also found some ancient artifacts used to prepare food and drinks more than 4,000 years ago.

The vase with a smiley face will be displayed at the Gaziantep Archaeological Museum near the site. Smilies became popular all over the world in the 1960s along with the widespread use of keyboards.