Shell Artifacts

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.

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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.

The Patagonian region represents the continental southernmost tip of the world, and was the last mass land colonized by humans, at 12.000 or 13.000 years before present. Since the end of Pleistocene and during the whole Holocene live in this region hunter-gatherer populations, which exploited available resources: specially guanacos in the interior areas, supplemented on the coast with sea lions and shellfish.
Only a few thousands years after the initial settlement there is evidence of the exploitation of malacological resources for food. The freshwater shellfish have been exploited since over 9,000 years BP, while the marine mollusks began to be heavily consumed two thousands years later.
In archeology of Patagonian there has been a large number of sites with evidence of an intense exploitation of shellfish for consumption over the past 4,000 thousand years, and virtually in all of the Patagonian coast, with a greater emphasis on central sector. Few instruments manufactured on shells of mollusks have been identified, mostly shellbeads and containers of liquids and for paints.
However, only recently with a greater emphasis on investigations of the Patagonian coast, there is an interest in the study of the role that shellfish have had in the diet of the aboriginal peoples of Patagonia. Nevertheless, there is a lack of the role of archaeomalacological remains as raw materials for tools, or their use as elements of utensils. We still need advance in the deep meaning that shellfish may have had for the Patagonian populations.

La región patagónica representa el extremo continental más austral del mundo, es la ultima masa continental colonizada por el hombre, hecho que ocurrió hace aproximadamente entre 12 y 13 mil años antes del Presente. A lo largo de la prehistoria de esta región se suceden poblaciones cazadoras recolectoras, que explotaron los recursos disponibles: en el interior los guanacos, complementados en la costa con lobos marinos y moluscos.
Solo pocos milenios después del poblamiento inicial ya existen evidencias de la explotación de los recursos malacológicos con fines alimenticios. Los moluscos dulceacuícolas habrían sido explotados desde hace poco más de 9.000 años AP, mientras que los moluscos marinos comienzan a ser consumidos intensamente dos milenios después. 
En la arqueología patagónica se ha registrado gran cantidad de sitios con evidencias de una intensa explotación de moluscos para su consumo a lo largo de los últimos 4.000 mil años y prácticamente en la totalidad del litoral patagónica, aunque se observa un mayor énfasis en el sector central de la misma. Pocos instrumentos manufacturados sobre valvas de moluscos han sido identificados, mayoritariamente cuentas de valvas y contenedores de líquidos y pinturas. 
Sin embargo, solo recientemente junto con un mayor énfasis en las investigaciones de la costa patagónica, se esta tomando conciencia del rol que los moluscos han tenido para las poblaciones aborígenes de la Patagonia. A pesar de ello, aun falta avanzar en el conocimiento del rol que los restos arqueomalacológicos pudieron tener como materias primas de instrumentos, o su uso como elementos de ajuar. En definitiva, resta avanzar en el significado profundo que los moluscos pudieron haber tenido para las poblaciones patagónicas.

Paper presented at the 80th annual Society for American Archaeology meeting, San Francisco, California, April 16, 2015. We describe the lightning whelk (Busycon sinistrum) and show how its shells were used among coastal peoples along the Gulf of Mexico and lower Atlantic coast. During the Middle and Late Archaic periods, lightning whelk shells were transported hundreds of km from the coasts to the Midsouth where they were made into a variety of artifacts that were interred in graves. We explore the symbolic significance of sinistral ("left-handed") snails in post-Archaic times, focusing on the lightning whelk as a metaphor of spiral/circle, fire/sun, and purification/continuity among Native Americans of the eastern United States. This particular marine mollusk shell had special spiritual significance—and hence economic and political value—for several millennia, particularly in the southeastern United States, but its ritual importance as cultural icon resonates with cultures around the globe.

Cheong, Kong F.  2012 A Preliminary Analysis of the Faunal Remains from the North Group of Pacbitun, Belize. In Pacbitun Regional Archaeological Project: Report on the 2011 Field Season, edited by Terry G. Powis, pp. 87-93. Report Submitted to the Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History, Belmopan, Belize.

Artifact is most important record for archaeologists. In this lecture Dr Lolita Nikolova divides the archaeological artifacts into two groups: artifacts from excavations and from museums without clear origin. The artifacts from the excavations need precise stratigraphic data and context to become an excellent record. The attribution of the artifacts from museum without known origin to specific site based on similarity with material from known site is problematic.

Poster. XVIII Congreso Nacional de Arqueologia Argentina, organizado por el Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales, CCT CONICET, Mendoza y la Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Realizado en la ciudad de La Rioja, La Rioja, entre los días 22 y 26 de Abril de 2013.

DAIRE M.-Y., HAMON G., BARON A., CHAIGNEAU C., CHOISY-GUILLOU C., BAUDRY-DAUTRY A., DESSE-BERSET N., DESSE J.(†), DRÉANO Y., DUPONT C., GEHRES B., LARGE J.-M., LE FORESTIER S., QUERRÉ G., QUESNEL L., VISSAC C., et la collaboration de DONNART K., DUTOUQUET L., LEFEUVRE J.-Y., LÓPEZ-ROMERO E., MALÉJACQ P., MÉNIEL P., MERCIER A.

While most works of southeastern archaeology focus on stone artifacts or ceramics, this volume is the first to bring together past and current trends in zooarchaeological studies. Faunal reports are often relegated to appendices and not synthesized with the rest of the archaeological data, but Trends and Traditions in Southeastern Zooarchaeology calls attention to the diversity of information that faunal remains can reveal about rituals, ideologies, socio-economic organization, trade, and past environments.

These essays, by leading practitioners in this developing field, highlight the differences between the archaeological focus on animals as the food source of their time and the belief among zooarchaeologists that animals represent a far more complex ecology. With broad methodological and interpretive analysis of sites throughout the region, the essays range in topic from the enduring symbolism of shells for more than 5,000 years to the domesticated dog cemeteries of Spirit Hill in Jackson County, Alabama, and to the subsistence strategies of Confederate soldiers at the Florence Stockade in South Carolina.

Ultimately challenging traditional concepts of the roles animals have played in the social and economic development of southeastern cultures, this book is a groundbreaking and seminal archaeological study.

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.