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Name : Lviv pysanka

What it is : A decorated duck egg

A duck egg decorated with a wax-resist technique that involves light-colored wavy lines against a light-brown-colored eggshell

Where it is from : Lviv , Ukraine

When it was made : The early sixteenth century

Related : Słupcio : A 6,000 - class - old amber ' gummy bear ' that may have been a Stone Age amulet

a closeup of an amulet with a scarab on it

What it enjoin us about the past tense :

Easter - egg decorating is an ancient custom with deep root extending at least into the medieval period of European history . But archeological grounds of them is scarce due to the delicate nature of shell . At more than 500 years one-time , the Lviv pysanka — Ukrainian for " written testicle " — is the oldest decorated Easter testicle in the world .

Archaeologists key the pysanka in 2013 , when twist workers slip up upon a medieval well while repair a house in Lviv , a city in westerly Ukraine . The well was to begin with used for pick up groundwater , according to the Rescue Archaeological Service at the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences ' Institute of Archaeology . But after the Great Fire of Lviv in 1527 , which put down most of the city , the well was used as a sump .

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The pysanka was nestled in a stocky layer of charcoal along with ceramic dishes ; modest utensil ; and leather , Grant Wood and metal physical object , suggest that these items may have been swept into the disused well during cleanup spot after the blast . Surprisingly , the damage to the testis was minor ; only about 0.31 square inch ( 2 square centimeters ) of the total surface area was lost .

Ukrainian pysanky are typically created using a wax - resist technique . With this method acting , wax is " written " in a cosmetic rule on the airfoil of the testis , which is painted or dye . The wax is then removed , revealing the light - distort shell of the egg , which , in the case of the Lviv pysanka , is from a duck .

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Green carved scarab beetle in a gold setting and a gold chain

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— Tumaco - Tolita amber figurine : A 2,000 - year - old statue with a ' fancy nose ornamentation ' from a vanished South American culture

The practice of decorate ceramic egg or ball dates back many centuries . archaeologist have see ceramic Easter eggs in Ukraine dated to the twelfth 100 , revealing the antiquity of the practice in that country . And some researchersarguethat decorated eggs date back several millennia , originating with the Stone Age Cucuteni - Trypillia culture in Central Europe , likely as a symbolisation of nature and rebirth . But this gentile custom was finally absorbed into Christianity , with the testis coming tosymbolizethe empty tomb and the Resurrection of Christ of Jesus Christ .

Photograph looking down a short set of marble stairs into a narrow, empty pool with an apsidal end

In modern Ukraine , decorating pysanky is animportant national tradition . In 2024,UNESCOlisted Ukrainian pysanky decorating among the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity , honor the centuries - previous practice .

The Lviv Easter egg is presently housed in thePysanka Museumin Kolomyia , which displays many of these symbolisation of the long - standing Ukrainian tradition of egg decorating .

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