Abstract:

Five marine shell assemblages, consisting of over 5000 shells and shell fragments from Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (9200-7800 BP ) sites in the Sinai peninsula have been studied. The aims of this study were (1) to compare assemblages among the sites and, within the two larger and stratified sites (Ujrat el Mehed and Wadi Tbeik), among levels; and (2) to try to determine the place of marine shells within the socio-economic structure of the PPNB period in southern Sinai. Red Sea shell beads processed in southern Sinai may have been exchanged for cereals from PPNB agricultural communities within the Mediterranean zone.

Keywords: NEAR EAST; NEOLITHIC; MARINE SHELLS; BEADS; PPNB

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: Peabody Museum, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, U.S.A.: