Archive for June 18th, 2007
More On Discovery Of The Oldest Adornments In The World
Previously on Anthropology.net, we saw the news from Morocco regarding the discovery of ochre-stained beads fashioned from 13 pierced shells of Nassarius gibbosulus, a coastal dwelling mollusc,
which in this instance were collected from a beach some 40km/25 miles distant from the Cave of Pigeons in Taforalt – indicating that this particular resource was considered valuable enough to make a round trip – assuming the cave was the point of departure and return – which might well have meant an overnight stay near the beach was required, before the return journey was undertaken the following morning. To further recap…
“By taking into account the distance of the coast at that time and the comparison with natural alteration of shells of the same species on today’s beaches, the two scientists inferred that prehistoric humans had selected, transported and very probably perforated the shells and colored them red for a symbolic use. Moreover, some shells showed traces of wear, which suggests that they were used as adornments for a long time: they were very likely worn as necklaces or bracelets, or sewn onto clothes.”
The shells and the context in which they were found were subjected to a veritable barrage of dating techniques, and as far as I can tell, the 82,000 bp date seems secure , and they can also be considered in a wider context…
“Noticing that the beads belong to the same species of shell and bear the same type of perforation as those uncovered in previous excavations at the paleolothic sites at Skhul in Israel and at Oued Djebbana in Algeria , Marian Vanhaeren and Francesco d’Errico were thus able to confirm the validity of these two discoveries. Everything therefore seems to indicate that 80 000 years ago the populations of the eastern and southern Mediterranean shared the same symbolic traditions. To back up this hypothesis they point to other sites in Morocco where Nassarius gibbosulus beads from the same period are also found.”
The authors go on to make an interesting observation regarding the the differences between shell use in the Middle Palaeolithic of Africa and the Near East, and their later use in the Upper Palaeolithic of Eurasia, from about 40,000 bp onwards… Read the rest of this entry »
