How old is an old condom?

Historians and archeologist's seem unable to agree exactly when civilizations began to embrace the condom as protection from sexual disease or as a form of birth control, but there are some historians and archeologist's who claim that there are cave paintings in Grotte des Combarrelles that depict men wearing condoms. The paintings in this cave are presumed to be any where from 12,000 to 15,000 years old, so if it is true that there are paintings in this cave depicting men wearing condoms then we can assume that an old condom can be at least 12,000 years old. Of course, theres always a chance that the paintings in Grotte des Combarrelles were painted by ancient historians and archeologist's who were depicting an ancient practice of condom wearing that dated back anywhere from 12,00 to 15,00 years which would then make that old condom any where from 24,00 to 30,000 years old. But, since it is a matter of debate whether those paintings are actually depicting men wearing condoms we can not rely upon that as a viable source of determining how old an old condom might be.

There is also the matter of King Minos of ancient Greece, who, as told by Antonius Liberalis in 150 AD, that Minos was cursed with sperm that contained scorpions and serpents and in order to protect his sexual partners he would use a goats bladder as a female condom. The use of condoms declined after the decline of the Roman Empire in a large part because both the Christian and Muslim religions declared any form of birth control to be a sin. However, in 1494 the first well documented outbreak of syphilis occurred in an outbreak among French troops. By 1505 the disease had spread to China decimating large populations of China.

In Italy during the 16th century, Gabriele Falloppio authored the earliest uncontested description of the use of condoms. Falloppio describe a linen device treated with chemicals and tied to the glans (tip) of the penis with a ribbon. Of the 1100 men who used this device none contracted syphilis. Thus, it was at the epoch of the Age of Enlightenment where men first began recording their condom use and it wasn't long after the great philosopher Rene Descartes declared: "I think, therefore I am" that men began to paraphrase Descartes by saying: "I think I'll have sex, therefore, I'll wear a condom."

This concludes this weeks installment of HISTORIANS AND ARCHEOLOGIST's who ask the age old question; HOW OLD IS OLD? Tune in next week when HISTORIANS AND ARCHEOLOGIST's will ask; HOW OLD IS AN OLD CONDOMINIUM?