Shell Artifacts

This report presents the results of an archaeological survey and evaluative testing of the Bayshore Homes archaeological site in Pinellas County, Florida.  The Bayshore Homes site proper is recorded in the Florida Master Site File as 8PI41 and consists of two burial mounds, a flat-topped platform mound, and a large shoreline midden.  Recent investigations, however, have expanded the site complex to include the adjacent midden at Abercrombie Park (8PI58) and the Kuttler Mound (8PI10650), a large shell mound situated between Abercrombie Park and the Bayshore Homes midden.  the report summarizes previous excavations at the site by William Sears and presents new data on settlement layout, site formation, chronometric dating, subsistence, ceramics, and lithic, shell, and bone artifacts.

Many shell, horn, tooth and bone objects were revealed by the early excavations at Naukratis, but only 159 can be identified today.1 These probably represent only a small proportion of what was originally encountered by the early excavators at Naukratis who recorded finding numerous bones within burnt deposits across the site. Recent excavation at Naukratis by the British Museum,2 and the excavations directed by Leonard both revealed substantial numbers of faunal remains. The material below consists disproportionately of worked artefacts and ornaments, as the faunal remains from animals consumed as food are exceptionally rare. It seems that the excavators only kept faunal remains when they were worked artefacts, ornaments, or from specific contexts they found interesting, such as a small sample from burnt deposits within the Greek sanctuaries of Naukratis. For this reason most of what is discussed below concerns votives, sacrifices, ritual instruments, grave goods, and a few tools, with only a few rare instances of animal remains that represent the diet of Naukratites.
Most of the bone artefacts, with the exception of bone figurines, have been discussed in other chapters, which is why they are only briefly discussed in section 2 below. Jewellery (Fig. 1), Egyptian ritual equipment (Fig. 2) and tools (Figs 3–5) made of bone or ivory are covered in specialist chapters with objects in other materials.3 Noteworthy finds not discussed in other chapters comprise a range of carved and undecorated Tridacna shells, ostrich eggshell vessels and shell ornaments (section 3 below). The few faunal remains (along with a bone knife handle) from Naukratis come from a bone and charcoal ritual sacrifice deposit dated to c. 620–500 BC, excavated by Petrie from the Apollo sanctuary.4 These remains may be comparable with contemporary bone and charcoal deposits found near the Hellenion and Dioskouroi sanctuaries recently excavated at Naukratis.

This report presents the results of Phase III excavation and data recovery at 8PB6, the Boca Raton Inlet Midden 3 site, located in Boca Raton, Florida immediately north of the Palm Beach and Broward county line, on the north side of Boca Raton Inlet.  The consists of midden deposits that are interpreted as representng short-term extractive camp occupied during the East Okeechobee I and II periods (A.D. 350-900), with a later ephemeral occupation during East Okeechobee IV (A.D. 1513-1763).  Dating of the
prehistoric occupation is based on radiocarbon determinations and temporally diagnostic ceramics. Identification of a Contact-period occupation is based is based on the recovery of artifacts of definite European origin that include glass beads, iron spikes, and a sherd of olive jar.

Glades Plain and Belle Glade Plain ceramics dominate the assemblage.  Lesser amounts of St. Johns Plain and Check
Stamped pottery are also present.  Decorated ceramics are in the minority and Miami Incised, and Opa Locka Incised.  Analysis of
residues on sherds from two features indicate that the vessels were used for the preparation of foods that include starchy plant foods and fats, oils, and proteins from animals. Notable is evidence of Datura or jimson weed, indicating the possible processing of this plant for its hallucinogenic properties in rituals or as a medicine.

Animal bone was very abundant and well-preserved.  A reliance on marine resources, particularly fishes, shellfish, and turtles is indicated by the zooarchaeological analysis. Saltwater fishes include jacks, hardhead catfish, grouper, Atlantic croaker, puffer fish, parrot fishes, sailfish, sawfish, and dolphin . Sea turtle remains are very abundant. Invertebrates  consist of oyster, queen conch, giant false donax lightning whelks, arks, deer cowry, Caribbean top snail, nerites, crabs, and sea urchins.  Freshwater species include gar, bowfin, sunfishes, mud/musk turtles, and soft shell turtle. Terrestrial species include gopher tortoise, deer, opossum, raccoon, domestic dog, and skunk.

The object of this thesis is to study and analyze the shell assemblages from four settlements of the Thermaic Gulf: Paliambela Kolindros, Makriyalos Pieria, Archontiko Giannitsa, and Toumba Thessaloniki. The aim was to explore the patterns of molluscan and shell consumption during the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in Central Macedonia. The study adopts a new approach that focuses on the concept of shell biography with the aim to draw away from the traditional approaches to molluscs and to discuss gathering, consumption and refuse as social practices with specific structure and meaning in each case. The methodological tools of the analysis are: macroscopic and microscopic study of each shell (identifications, quantification, size recording, human or natural modifications, etc), study of taphonomy, interpretative classification of species, and contextual analysis of finds in various spatial and chronological scales. In total, 909,009 shells from the four settlements were studied and 51,338 shells from eleven other settlements in the area were re-evaluated. According to the evidence, gathering of molluscs was a specialized and successful economical activity, integrated with the other productive activities in most of the cases. The consumption of molluscs as food was widespread throughout the Neolithic and Bronze Age; this practice had particular characteristics, such as the selection of mainly one species (Cerastoderma glaucum) from the great variety offered by the natural environment. Meanwhile, a small part of the food remnants was recycled for ornament manufacture and was used in every context, domestic or communal. From the Middle Bronze Age onwards, molluscs were also used for the production of purple-dye. These common choices in food and ornament consumption practices were conscious, and thus they constituted one of the several ways that people used to show their identity. However, there is also great diversity in consumption practices in time and in space in response partially to local environmental conditions and partially to the specific socio-economical practices of each community that underlines the dynamic role of human agency.

The shell artefact assemblage of Çatalhöyük is one of the richest unearthed in Anatolia, even taking into account the large scale of excavations, thus demonstrating their importance in the lives of the Neolithic people. Previous research has recognised the great potential of shell artefacts at Çatalhöyük, in particular shell ornaments, in discussing issues of technology and trade, social and individual identities, and ritual and symbolism (Hamilton 1996; Reese 2005; Bar-Yosef Mayer 2013; Bains et al. 2013; Vasić et al. 2014).
The results from the study of 1,300 shell artefacts from the 2009–2017 excavations are presented here.....

"The Fernvale site (40WM51) was excavated in 1985 prior to a bridge replacement spanning the South Harpeth River in northwestern Williamson County, Tennessee. Excavations resulted in the discovery of prehistoric features including 33 human burials, two dog burials, and three structure footprints. Temporally sensitive artifacts recovered from the site spanned the Paleoindian through Mississippian periods, with major deposits originating in the Late to Terminal Archaic.

Beginning in September of 2007, a collaborative project between the Tennessee Division of Archaeology and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Middle Tennessee State University sought to reexamine the Fernvale site with the goal of completing any outstanding analysis and producing a site report. The resulting monograph is an edited work that presents specialized analysis by multiple contributors, including: Andrea Shea Bishop, C. Brady Davis, Aaron Deter-Wolf, Lacey S. Flemming, Andrew Gillreath-Brown, Shannon C. Hodge, Teresa Ingalls, Tanya M. Peres, Benjamin A. Steere, and Jesse W. Tune."  - Written by Aaron Deter-Wolf

The environmental extremes of the Last Glacial Maximum and the
subsequent warming and sea-level rise into the Holocene had profound
implications for human behavior across much of the world.
In northern New Guinea, the Maluku Islands, and the Philippines,
shell adzes appear during this period alongside contact between
islands. In this paper we present new data from the site of Asitau
Kuru, Timor-Leste, to show that the creation of shell adzes and
greater inter-island connectivity also characterizes the early and
middle and early Holocene in the Nusa Tenggara archipelago of
southern Wallacea. We suggest that one of the functions of these
shell adzes was in making dugout canoes enabling regular access to
neighboring islands; the import of exotic stone materials; long-term
occupation of very small islands; and, with new hook and line technology, the capture of more fish. This evidence predates the
Neolithic in the region and corroborates a linguistic hypothesis that
there was a pre-Austronesian interaction sphere covering much
of Wallacea.

The use of marine shells of the genus Charonia for the production of sounds both in ritual contexts and in multiple scopes of the societies of the Ancient World is well attested by archaeological and written sources in many areas of the Mediterranean. However, this pattern seems to have remained almost unnoticed until present in the western basin (also including the Atlantic coast), with scarce mention in the Graeco-Latin authors and even more exiguous archaeological remains. In this paper we will review this information will present new archaeological data on the presence of Triton Shell horns in several Phoenician-Punic contexts attested in the Straits of Gibraltar area. These new finds come mostly from precisely stratified deposits, that have provided important data concerning the functionalities of these shells. In this sense, we will make special emphasis on the multifunctionality that these items could have had in the Punic western Mediterranean area, both for ritual (domestic cults) and economic (essentially salt-fish factories) purposes.

ABSTRACT – Personal ornaments are often used to display information about the person wearing them – identity, group or individual, status, current role. In this paper, I analyze ornaments from osseous raw materials from Early and Middle Neolithic sites in Serbia. The exotic origin and labour and skill invested in their production may have conferred value on them or added to it and their animal origin was considered of special significance. Specific forms conveyed information on status and/or social identity (membership of kin or social group, etc.) and their white colour probably had more than mere aesthetic significance.

Watch the presentation live at http://www.livemedia.gr/video/33050


The aim of the present paper is to survey the evidence from the study of marine and land molluscan remains of the Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in central Macedonia, Greece. After the description of materials and methods, the paper investigates the relationship between the natural and cultural environment and discusses the evidence on molluscan gathering and food consumption practices, refuse patterns, as well as the production and consumption of shell artefacts and other raw materials, such as purple dye. The discussion of these subjects in different analytical scales and the synthetic approach of the evidence reveal a complex picture, which questions the existing views and adds important data in the understanding and interpretation of the way of life in central Macedonia during Prehistory.

The main techniques used for producing shell beads were established in several studies, based both on observation and experimentation. The techniques include hammering, gouging, incising, grinding, drilling, the use of naturally perforated shells, or any combination of these techniques. A temporal study shows the evolution of these techniques and the connection between the way shells were perceived, and the way they were exploited through time. The earliest shell beads, dating to the Middle Palaeolithic were naturally perforated ones. Next, small gastropod shell were gouged or scratched, probably with a flint tool. During Upper Palaeolithic we encounter the first evidence for incisions with flint blades, but this is uncommon probably because it rapidly wastes the blades. During the Late Natufian culture of the Levant (13-11.5ka cal BP) shells disk beads are produced for the first time. This required a combination of methods including cutting of blanks, drilling the hole, and grinding the perimeter, or filing it in a grooved stone. The Neolithic periods see an intensification of drilling and grinding and the grinding could have been practiced on the same ground stone tools that were used for grinding of cereals and other foods. The emergence of metal tools allow slightly more accurate results, and the production of other artifacts made of shells, however, the basic technologies for making shell artifacts do not change.

To be cited as: Bar-Yosef Mayer, D.E., 2004 Section C: The Mollusc Shells. In: D. Ussishkin (ed.). The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish  (1973-1994). Emery and Claire Yass Publications in Archaeology, Monograph Series 22, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv. Vol. V:2490-2503.

Around AD 1050 at Cahokia, a sudden coalescence of peoples with new ceremonials and Mound 72’s commemorative human interments provide evidence of long–distance contacts and finely crafted artifacts. Beads from the famous Mound 72 Beaded Burial have remained unstudied since they were unearthed-a strange situation given the importance of the Beaded Burial. This article presents results from my re-examination of all shell artifacts from Mound 72, including some new artifact identifications, bead counts, and measurements. Artifacts previously called gorgets are shell cups, and one was remarkably large. The source was probably the eastern Gulf of Mexico for most marine shells. I present a new method of examining bead drill holes using the frustum formula, suggesting that porcupine quills or biological materials were used as drill tips for columella beads. This method can be used on stone and bone beads as well. I
hypothesize a general decline in bead crafting through time. Paired shell artifact emplacements throughout Mound 72 echo the paired male/female human interments from the Beaded Burial, adding to evidence that Mound 72’s burials were part of a ritual theater. My analysis supports the contention that marine shell artifacts were symbolic conduits of human spirits and power.

To be cited as: Bar-Yosef Mayer D.E., 2006, Construction and Trade: The Shells from Tel Beth-Shean, in Excavations at Tel Beth-Shean 1989-1996, Volume I.  From the Late Bronze Age IIB to the Medieval Period, by Amihai Mazar. Israel Exploration Society, Jerusalem. Pp. 711-722.

This paper discusses the Spondylus gaederopus artifacts from the Neolithic settlement at Makriyalos in Northern Greece, a site situated 2km from the coast. The Spondylus artifacts recovered at Makriyalos include annulets, beads, buckles, buttons and pendants, forms well known to the Greek Neolithic, but in a considerably larger scale than any other thus far excavated assemblage. The unique amount of Spondylus artifacts from Makriyalos has provided plausible evidence for on-site procurement, manufacture, consumption and discarding at Makriyalos. The analysis of temporal and spatial distribution of the material suggests fruitful avenues for investigation as regards the context of Spondylus consumption at the site.

Lightning whelk shells were used to craft the great majority of disk and columella (barrel) beads at Mississippian sites. Little attention has been paid to the amount of time, energy, and trade cost of whelk shells brought from the coast. Newly evidence indicates a Florida coast source. Shells were not a constant, reliable resource, and during certain times they were not available for as-yet-unknown reasons. I hypothesize that Florida peoples saved shells in order that they be available for trade negotiations with northerly Mississippians. Large deposits of lightning whelk artifacts indicates intentional acquisition, and that Mississippians sometimes traveled to obtain shells. Beads were crafted near their final deposition areas and this allows us to estimate costs.