Experimental Research Concerning the Production of Early Holocene Ostrich Shell Beads at the Shui Donggou Site, Ningxia, China.

Summary

The appearance of art is an important development in behavioral modernity. In this paper we address the production of early Holocene ostrich eggshell beads. Such beads have been found in many Chinese late Paleolithic sites and also the early Holocene site of Shui Donggou. The study of these ancient beads will help us to better understand early craft production and the role art played in the development of society. In this paper, we present the results of our experimental ostrich shell bead replication analysis. In order to obtain the use-wear signatures, Synchrotron Radiation Micro CAT Scans were used to document the use-wear formed on modern beads produced by two drilling methods . The results indicate that 1) the perforation shape and drilling marks are distinct between the different methods; 2) the outer and inside surface of the shell could be non-destructively identified and drilling direction could be determined and 3) Ostrich species distinction could be determined. Similar methods were then employed to examine the early Holocene beads from the Shui Donggou site. We propose that by the early Holocene China a couple of different drilling techniques were occurring and our methods can be applied to other areas.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Use-wear, Experimental Archaeology and Residue Analysis in the People's Republic of China, A Session in Memory of George H. Odell   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

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