On holes and strings: Earliest displays of human adornment in the Middle Palaeolithic.

ABSTRACT: Glycymeris shell beads found in Middle Palaeolithic sites are understood to be artifacts collected by modern humans for symbolic use. In Misliya Cave, Israel, dated to 240-160 ka BP, Glycymeris shells were found that were neither perforated nor manipulated; nevertheless, transportation to the cave is regarded as symbolic. In about 120 ka BP at Qafzeh Cave, Israel, modern humans collected naturally perforated Glycymeris shells also for symbolic use. Use-wear analyses backed by experiments demonstrate that the Qafzeh shells were suspended on string, thus suggesting that the collection of perforated shells was intentional. The older Misliya shells join a similar finding from South Africa, while the later-dated perforated shells from Qafzeh resemble other assemblages from North Africa and the

SUBMITTER: Bar-Yosef Mayer DE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7343129 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature