Black Cyclope neritea Marine Shell Ornaments in the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of Franchthi Cave, Greece: Arguments for Intentional Heat Treatment

Authors: Perlès, Catherine; Vanhaeren, Marian

Source: Journal of Field Archaeology, Volume 35, Number 3, September 2010 , pp. 298-309(12)

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Abstract:

The prehistoric site of Franchthi Cave yielded an exceptionally rich collection of personal ornaments. A reassessment of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic ornaments from the site led to the hypothesis that a variable fraction of at least one type of personal ornaments, i.e. marine shell beads belonging to the species Cyclope neritea, may have been intentionally heated to change their natural whitish color to black. The limited conditions in which blackening can occur through heating, as well as comparison with the percentage of burnt land snails, animal bones, fish bones, and marine molluscan food remains in the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sequence, supports a special heat treatment for Cyclope neritea shells at Franchthi Cave.

Keywords: CYCLOPE NERITEA; BEADS; UPPER PALAEOLITHIC; GREECE; HEAT TREATMENT; MESOLITHIC; FRANCHTHI CAVE

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/009346910X12707321358874

Publication date: 2010-09-01

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