How Long Have Fingerprints ID And Biometrics Been Used?

One of the most effective ways to maintain security in critical areas of a building is through biometric door systems.

Typically relying on fingerprints alongside other biomarkers, these scanners are very difficult to trick or brute-force, particularly when used in combination with heavy-duty locks and doorsets, ones that follow Loss Prevention Standards.

However, the concept of fingerprints in security is much older than you might expect. Whilst the first established fingerprint identification standard was established in the late 19th century, their use is thousands of years older.

Sealed With A Thumbprint

The absolute oldest fingerprints found were on clay pots believed to be at least 6000 years old, although whether this was an intentional impression or a consequence of the pottery process is likely never to be known.

The Indus Valley Civilisation was one of the earliest civilisations, one of the largest and one that had an outstretched impact on the technological and cultural development of the early ancient world.

One of these was the early development of fingerprint identification, typically taking the form of early potter’s marks on works of clay.

Whilst it is never easy to establish intent with early civilisations due to a lack of written history, the fact these finger and thumb prints were clear on clay tablets and seals suggests quite strongly that they were used as a form of identification even back then.

One of the clearest examples of this taking place was in the Hammurabi era of the Old Babylon Empire, which established one of the earliest forms of contract law.

In order to protect against forgery, people needed to impress their fingerprints into any tablets written onto clay contracts, acting as a form of impossible-to-forge signature.

Some of the strongest examples of the fingerprint’s earliest use in the security world was in China around 250 BC.

Whilst they also sealed clay contracts with thumbprints, records from the Qin Dynasty have details of a criminal investigation that described how handprints were found and analysed as evidence.

Whilst the process for investigating the friction ridges is unknown, it highlights the concept of fingerprints being a unique identifying marker that was not only known but established in security and justice.

Several early stories and novels found in the region add extra details about fingerprinting, and how it could be an effective way of identifying someone when other major details could change so dramatically.

People can change body type, hair length, hair colour, tattoos and even to a certain extent measurements through the use of shoe lifts and posture. However, fingerprints are far more difficult to falsify, making them an ideal solution for determining identification.

Whilst this was intuitively known, it would take another 1800 years for this to be confirmed, with the German doctor J. C. A. Mayer noting through close analysis of fingerprints that they are unique, even if some sets are closer than others.

It would ultimately take until 1897 and two police officers in Calcutta to create a methodology for classifying fingerprints that could be effectively used in a security context, something that soon became critical evidence in legal cases.