Buttons and button-like objects used as ornaments rather than fasteners have been discovered
in the Indus Valley Civilization during its Kot Diji phase (circa 2800-2600 BC) as
well as Bronze Age sites in China (circa 2000-1500 BCE), and Ancient Rome.

Buttons made from seashell were used in the Indus Valley Civilization for ornamental purposes
by 2000 BCE.^[1] Some buttons were carved into

geometric shapes and had
holes pierced into them so that they could attached to clothing by using a thread.^[1]
Ian McNeil (1990) holds that: "The button, in fact, was originally used more as an
ornament than as a fastening, the earliest known being found at Mohenjo-daro in the
Indus Valley. It is made of a curved shell and about 5000 years old."^[2]

Functional buttons, made from stone, as well human skull fragments have been found
at the site of Gobekli Tepe, in southeastern Turkey, dated at 10,500 B.C.E. pictured
in the article.^[3] Functional buttons with buttonholes for fastening or closing clothing
appeared first in Germany in the 13th century.^[4] They soon became widespread with
the rise of snug-fitting garments in 13th- and 14th-century Europe.