Journal
JOURNAL OF HUMAN EVOLUTION
Volume 64, Issue 6, Pages 500-517Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.02.001
Keywords
Nassarius kraussianus; Beadwork; Symbolism; Morphometry; Use-wear; Still Bay
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Funding
- European Research Council (ERC) [249587]
- PROTEA French-South Africa research programme
- Groupe de Recherche Internationale STAR of the CNRS
- Wenner Gren Foundation
- National Research Foundation/Department of Science and Technology supported Chair at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
- Norwegian Research Council/South African National Research Foundation
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Here we report on newly identified beads recovered from four Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave and, in particular, on a cluster of 24 perforated Nassarius kraussianus shells that probably originate from a single beadwork. Contextual information, morphometric, technological and use-wear analysis of the 68 published beads and those recently found, coupled with experimental reproduction of wear patterns, allow us to reconstruct the most probable way in which the N. kraussianus shells were strung. The results reveal unexpected regularities but also variability through the various levels that we interpret as resulting from changes in beadwork manufacture and design over time. The Blombos Cave beads may document one of the first examples of changes in social norms affecting the production and design of symbolic material culture. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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