Middle Paleolithic Shell Beads in Israel and Algeria

Perforated marine gastropod shells at the western Asian site of Skhul and the North African site of Oued Djebbana indicate the early use of beads by modern humans in these regions. The remoteness of these sites from the seashore and a comparison of the shells to natural shell assemblages indicate de...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2006-06, Vol.312 (5781), p.1785-1788
Main Authors: Vanhaeren, Marian, d'Errico, Francesco, Stringer, Chris, James, Sarah L, Todd, Jonathan A., Mienis, Henk K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African culture
Algeria
Anatomy
Animals
Anthropology
Archaeology
Archaeology and Prehistory
Breccia
Burial
Culture
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Excavations
Fossils
Gastropoda
Geologic Sediments
Geological time
History, Ancient
Human remains
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Israel
Marine and continental quaternary
Museums
Nassarius
Nassarius gibbosulus
Sediments
Shells
Snails
Specimens
Stone age
Surficial geology
Symbolism
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Summary:Perforated marine gastropod shells at the western Asian site of Skhul and the North African site of Oued Djebbana indicate the early use of beads by modern humans in these regions. The remoteness of these sites from the seashore and a comparison of the shells to natural shell assemblages indicate deliberate selection and transport by humans for symbolic use. Elemental and chemical analyses of sediment matrix adhered to one Nassarius gibbosulus from Skhul indicate that the shell bead comes from a layer containing 10 human fossils and dating to 100,000 to 135,000 years ago, about 25,000 years earlier than previous evidence for personal decoration by modern humans in South Africa.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1128139