Egg decorating is the art or craft of decorating eggs. It
is quite a popular art/craft form because of the attractive, smooth,
oval shape of the egg. Any bird egg can be facilitated in this process,
but most often the larger and stronger the eggshell is, the more
favoured it will be by decorators
Some eggs, like emu or ostrich eggs, are so large and strong that the shells may be carved without breaking. Decorations on emu eggs take advantage of the contrast in colours between the dark green mottled outside of the shell and the shell-underlay. The oldest eggshells, decorated with engraved hatched patterns, are dated for 60 000 years ago and were found at Diepkloof Rock Shelter in South Africa.
