The first appearance of explicitly symbolic objects in the archaeological record marks a fundamental stage in the emergence of modern social behavior in Homo. Ornaments such as shell beads represent some of the earliest objects of this kind. We report on examples of perforated Nassarius gibbosulus shell beads from Grotte des Pigeons (Taforalt, Morocco), North Africa. These marine shells come from archaeological levels dated by luminescence and uranium-series techniques to ≈82,000 years ago. They confirm evidence of similar ornaments from other less well dated sites in North Africa and adjacent areas of southwest Asia. The shells are of the same genus as shell beads from slightly younger levels at Blombos Cave in South Africa. Wear patterns on the shells imply that some of them were suspended, and, as at Blombos, they were covered in red ochre. These findings imply an early distribution of bead-making in Africa and southwest Asia at least 40 millennia before the appearance of similar cultural manifestations in Europe.
展开▼
机译:在考古记录中首次出现明确象征性的物体,标志着现代人在现代社会行为中兴起的一个基本阶段。诸如贝壳珠之类的装饰品代表了这类最早的物体。我们报告了来自北非Grotte des Pigeons(摩洛哥塔福拉特)的带孔雀鼻壳珠的例子。这些海洋贝壳来自发光和铀系列技术可追溯到大约82,000年前的考古学水平。他们证实了北非和西南亚邻近地区其他年代较晚的地点也有类似装饰品的证据。这些贝壳与南非Blombos洞穴中较年轻的贝壳珠属相同。贝壳上的磨损图案表明其中一些被悬挂了,就像在布隆博斯一样,它们被红色石覆盖。这些发现表明,在欧洲出现类似的文化表现之前,至少在四千年前,非洲和西南亚的制珠业早已分布。
展开▼