Archaeology of Personal Adornment Research Papers

This book examines the significance of adornment to the shaping of identity in mortuary contexts within Asia, and brings these perspectives into dialogue with current scholarship in other worldwide regions. The mortuary contexts of focus... more

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- by Leslie Wallace and +1
  Sheri Lullo
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- 12
  Japanese Art, Chinese Art, East Asian Archaeology, Archaeology of Personal Adornment

In a number of linen tunics from late antique Egypt tiny red threads have been unobtrusively woven into the fabric. Their purpose has long been a mystery to those studying 'Coptic' textiles. Based on a combination of literary and textile... more

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- by Tineke Rooijakkers
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- 9
  Archaeology, History of Dress, Textiles, Egyptian Archaeology

The reproduction of this article in whole or in part without the written permission from either Anita or Robert Jirka is prohibited.

This thesis is an examination of the 19th century adornment assemblage recovered from the archaeological excavation of two features (1859-1884) at the Industrial School for Girls in Dorchester located at 232 Centre Street in Dorchester,... more

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- by Madelaine A . Penney
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- 20
  History, Archaeology, Anthropology, Historical Archaeology

P r o c e e d i n g s o f t h e T h i r d C e n t r a l E u r o p e a n C o n f e r e n c e o f Y o u n g E g y p t o l o g i s t s . E g y p t 2 0 0 4 : P e r s p e c t i v e s o f R e s e a r c h . W a r s a w 1 2 -1 4 M a y 2 0 0 4

The emergence of farming societies in the Mediterranean area (IX-VI millennium BC) coincides with an increase in the presence of ornamental objects in the archaeological record. The cultural complexity of personal ornaments also increased... more

The essays in this volume engage explicitly in a variety of theoretical and methodological strategies for the interpretation of dress, dressed bodies, and their representations in the ancient world. Focusing on personal ornaments,... more

Flat disk beads made from a wide variety of biominerals, minerals and other stones are widely distributed on Early Neolithic sites throughout the Balkans. Replicative experiments indicate that hardness was a critical factor affecting... more

Russian historiography regards most of the zoomorphic pendants as related with finno-ugric tradition. However, adornments that aren't associated with it appear by the 12 th century. They represent the images related with the Christian... more

Les anneaux-disques irréguliers alsaciens et alpins Pierre Pétrequin, Anne-Marie Pétrequin, Yvan Pailler, Daniel Buthod-Ruffier, Serge Cassen, Anthony Denaire, Michel Errera, Luc Jaccottey, Frédéric Jallet, Frédéric Prodéo et Ute... more

Les anneaux-disques irréguliers alsaciens et alpins

Pierre Pétrequin, Anne-Marie Pétrequin, Yvan Pailler, Daniel Buthod-Ruffier, Serge Cassen, Anthony Denaire, Michel Errera, Luc Jaccottey, Frédéric Jallet, Frédéric Prodéo et Ute Seidel

Irregular-shaped disc-rings from Alsace and the Alps

Irregular-shaped disc-rings from Alsace, mostly made from serpentinite, constitute a well-defined typological group. While the central perforation is circular, the external shape of the cobble – selected from among the recent alluvial deposits of the Rhine between its confluence with the Aar and Kembs – was retained; thus the width of the hoop is variable.

Within the area of production are also found cobble roughouts, polished on both faces but not perforated; these had been brought in either directly or indirectly. And in the north of Franche-Comté, imitations of irregular-shaped disc-rings, made from locally-available rock types such as micaceous schists and pelite-quartz from the southern Vosges, are known.

Production certainly began around the beginning of the fifth millennium. It may have resulted from a combination of factors: an influx of techniques deriving from the Blicquy-Villeneuve-Saint-Germain (B-VSG) culture (as seen at Mühlhausen in Baden-Württemberg) and a geological curiosity of the region, namely the presence of flat cobbles of fine Alpine serpentinite in the alluvial deposits of the Rhine. Production continued throughout the whole of the first half of the fifth millennium, during the development of the Grossgartach and Rössen cultures.

Contrary to previous beliefs, a significant proportion of Alsatian irregular-shaped disc-rings was exported long distances, as far as the Paris Basin and Brittany; here they have been found in B-VSG and later contexts. A number of them were repolished in the Paris Basin, to transform them into disc-rings of regular shape, with quadrangular section, according to the B-VSG norms, before returning them to circulation.

Brittany constituted a secondary centre of attraction for the Alsatian disc-rings, in both their original and repolished forms. The Gulf of Morbihan is the centre of attraction that lies furthest from the production area. At Quiberon/Fort Saint-Julien (Morbihan), in a probably funerary hoard comprising two large repolished adze-heads of Bégude type made from Alpine jade and four large disc-rings, one of the latter, of Rhenish serpentinite, is of Alsatian type. This represents one of the latest contexts of discovery, dating to a little before 4500 BC, a time when the hierarchical social organisation of the Carnac area was beginning to be expressed through the construction of gigantic mounds.

In contrast, to the east, the cultures of central Europe appear not to have been interested in the Alsatian irregular-shaped disc-rings; this strengthens the impression that a rigid frontier existed between two worlds, each defending its own world view.

Résumé

Les anneaux-disques irréguliers alsaciens, pour la plupart en serpentinite, constituent un groupe typologique très bien caractérisé. En effet, tandis que la perforation centrale est circulaire, la forme extérieure des galets – sélectionnés dans les alluvions récentes du Rhin entre son confluent avec l’Aar et Kembs – a été respectée, d’où une couronne de largeur variable.

L’aire de production, directe ou différée, était alimentée par des galets-ébauches simplement polis sur les deux faces, mais non perforés. Dans le nord de la Franche-Comté, les anneaux irréguliers ont également fait l’objet d’imitations en autres roches régionales, comme des schistes micacés et des pélites-quartz des Vosges méridionales.

La production a certainement commencé vers le début du Ve millénaire, faisant peut-être la synthèse d’influx techniques du Blicquy-Villeneuve-Saint-Germain (B-VSG) (comme à Mühlhausen im Hegau, Baden-Württemberg) et d’une curiosité géologique régionale : des galets plats de belle serpentinite alpine dans les alluvions du Rhin. L’essentiel de la production a couvert toute la première moitié du Ve millénaire, durant le développement des cultures de Grossgartach et de Roessen.

Contrairement à ce qui était admis jusqu’ici, une proportion importante d’anneaux-disques irréguliers alsaciens a été exportée à longue distance jusqu’en Bassin parisien et en Bretagne, où on les retrouve dans des contextes B-VSG ou plus tard encore. Nombre d’entre eux ont été repolis dans le Bassin parisien, pour les transformer en anneaux réguliers à section quadrangulaire, selon les normes du B-VSG, avant de les remettre en circulation.

La Bretagne a constitué un centre secondaire d’attraction des anneaux-disques alsaciens, sous leur forme première ou après repolissage, le golfe du Morbihan représentant le centre secondaire d’attraction le plus éloigné de l’aire des producteurs. À Quiberon/Fort Saint-Julien (Morbihan, France), dans un dépôt (probablement funéraire) de deux grandes lames repolies de type Bégude en jades alpins et quatre grands anneaux-disques, un des anneaux en serpentinite rhénane appartient au type alsacien. Il s’agirait là d’une des manifestations les plus tardives, un peu avant le milieu du Ve millénaire, au moment où commençaient à s’exprimer les effets des organisations sociales carnacéennes, telles qu’elles sont illustrées par les tumulus géants.

Au contraire, vers l’est, les anneaux-disques irréguliers alsaciens ont été boudés par les cultures d’Europe centrale, soulignant ainsi la présence d’une frontière stricte entre deux mondes défendant chacun sa propre représentation du monde.

Three distinct but interrelated cultures developed around the Aegean Sea during the Bronze Age, which spanned the third and second millennia BCE: Minoan, centered on the island of Crete; Mycenaean, centered on mainland Greece; and... more

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- by Marianna Nikolaidou
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- 15
  Iconography, Archaeology of Gender, Feminist Theory, Symbolism

Cet ouvrage collectif comporte les contributions de 45 auteurs qui tous ont participé à l’étude du peuplement préhistorique d’un petit territoire insulaire et littoral, sur les côtes du département de la Charente-Maritime. Il correspond... more

A macroscopic analysis of the bead and pendant assemblage from Berenike (excavated in seasons 2009–2012) provides not only a preliminary bead typology and chronology, but contributes to the study of the multicultural character of the Red... more

This article explores the role played by personal ornaments in the performance of gender, and in the construction and differentiation of gendered identities, in the early Iron Age (Period IVb) burials at Hasanlu, a site in Northwestern... more

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- by megan cifarelli
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- 11
  Archaeology, Gender Studies, Archaeology of Gender, History of Dress

The ear li est oc cur rences of per sonal or na ments in West ern Eur asia are known from as sem blages that are placed at the Mid dle to Up per Paleolithic Tran si tion (Chatelperronian, Uluzzian, Blattspitzengruppen, Bachokirian). How... more

After the fall of the Meroe kingdom, three entities – Nobadia, Early Makuria, and Alwa (Alodia) – emerged in northeast Africa between the 4th and the 6th centuries AD. Richly furnished elite cemeteries with tombs of the Nobadian kings are... more

This study examines personal adornment and more specifically the wearing of anklets in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Southern Levant. Traditional interpretations of anklets have suggested that they were principally markers of ethnic... more

Over the last century, numerous hollow bronze/brass rhomboid (i.e., lozenge or diamond-shaped) objects have been excavated from the Inland Niger Delta region of Mali. Cast using the cire perdue technique, these Jenné (Djenné) beads or... more

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- by Lloyd Graham
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- 17
  Apotropaic Devices, Visual Semiotics, Symbolism, Symbology

Beads form the largest part of bodily adornment at Çatalhöyük. Over 43,000 beads have thus far been found during Mellaart’s excavations and the Çatalhöyük Research Project (ÇRP) excavations, in a variety of deposits that span over 1,000... more

The paper provides a preliminary overview of beads and pendants found at three Meroitic cemeteries, 8-B-5.A, 8-B-32.B, and 8-B-52.B, on Saï Island. In the Meroitic period, strings of beads and pendants were an easily discerned motif in... more

The object of this thesis is to study and analyze the shell assemblages from four settlements of the Thermaic Gulf: Paliambela Kolindros, Makriyalos Pieria, Archontiko Giannitsa, and Toumba Thessaloniki. The aim was to explore the... more

The object of this thesis is to study and analyze the shell assemblages from four settlements of the Thermaic Gulf: Paliambela Kolindros, Makriyalos Pieria, Archontiko Giannitsa, and Toumba Thessaloniki. The aim was to explore the patterns of molluscan and shell consumption during the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in Central Macedonia. The study adopts a new approach that focuses on the concept of shell biography with the aim to draw away from the traditional approaches to molluscs and to discuss gathering, consumption and refuse as social practices with specific structure and meaning in each case. The methodological tools of the analysis are: macroscopic and microscopic study of each shell (identifications, quantification, size recording, human or natural modifications, etc), study of taphonomy, interpretative classification of species, and contextual analysis of finds in various spatial and chronological scales. In total, 909,009 shells from the four settlements were studied and 51,338 shells from eleven other settlements in the area were re-evaluated. According to the evidence, gathering of molluscs was a specialized and successful economical activity, integrated with the other productive activities in most of the cases. The consumption of molluscs as food was widespread throughout the Neolithic and Bronze Age; this practice had particular characteristics, such as the selection of mainly one species (Cerastoderma glaucum) from the great variety offered by the natural environment. Meanwhile, a small part of the food remnants was recycled for ornament manufacture and was used in every context, domestic or communal. From the Middle Bronze Age onwards, molluscs were also used for the production of purple-dye. These common choices in food and ornament consumption practices were conscious, and thus they constituted one of the several ways that people used to show their identity. However, there is also great diversity in consumption practices in time and in space in response partially to local environmental conditions and partially to the specific socio-economical practices of each community that underlines the dynamic role of human agency.

The shell artefact assemblage of Çatalhöyük is one of the richest unearthed in Anatolia, even taking into account the large scale of excavations, thus demonstrating their importance in the lives of the Neolithic people. Previous research... more

Résumé La paragonite est un minéral sodique du groupe des micas blancs. En France et en Italie, les gîtes de paragonite massive sont situés entre 2000 et 2700 m d’altitude dans les Alpes internes et en Queyras ; récoltée sous la forme de... more

Résumé

La paragonite est un minéral sodique du groupe des micas blancs. En France et en Italie, les gîtes de paragonite massive sont situés entre 2000 et 2700 m d’altitude dans les Alpes internes et en Queyras ; récoltée sous la forme de petits nodules ou de plaquettes, la paragonite a été exploitée dès la fin du VIe millénaire. Cette matière première rare a été utilisée pour la fabrication d’anneaux-disques, de pendeloques et de perles, qui ont circulé sur 650 km à vol d'oiseau jusqu’à la fin du IVe millénaire, mais en faible nombre.

Deux nouvelles perles en paragonite ont été identifiées à l'oeil nu dans les collections de la Cité de la Préhistoire, puis analysées par spectroradiométrie en réflectance diffuse et comparées à notre référentiel des paragonites alpines. La perle bipointe de Bourg-Saint-Andéol (Ardèche) est d'un modèle inconnu jusqu'ici ; elle appartient vraisemblablement à la transition IVe-IIIe millénaires. Quant à la perle-tonnelet de la grotte des Fées à Tharaux (Gard), elle pourrait alors être le premier témoin attribuable à la fin de l’âge du Bronze ancien, ce qui porterait à plus de 3000 ans la durée d'exploitation de ce minéral très caractéristique, mais que préhistoriens et géologues peinent encore à reconnaître dans les collections archéologiques.

Mots clefs

Néolithique, âge du Bronze, parure, paragonite, origine, diffusion

Summary

Paragonite is a sodic mineral of the white mica group. In France and Italy, massive paragonite deposits are located between 2000 and 2700 m altitude in the internal Alps and in Queyras; collected in the form of small nodules or platelets, paragonite has been exploited since the end of the 6th millennium. This rare raw material was used to make disc-rings, pendants and beads, which circulated over 650 km as the crow flies until the end of the 4th millennium, but in small numbers.

Two new paragonite beads were identified with the naked eye in the collections of the Cité de la Préhistoire, then analysed by diffuse reflectance spectroradiometry and compared to our reference of alpine paragonite samples. The Bourg-Saint-Andéol (Ardèche) bipointe bead is of a hitherto unknown type; it probably belongs to the 4th-3rd millennium transition. As for the barrel shaped bead from la grotte des Fées in Tharaux (Gard), it could be the first artefact dated to the end of the Early Bronze Age, which would bring to more than 3000 years the duration of exploitation of this very characteristic mineral, but which prehistorians and geologists still meet difficulties to recognize in archaeological collections.

Key words

Neolithic, Bronze Age, personal adornment, paragonite, sourcing, diffusion

La caractérisation de la parure du Néolithique récent dans le Centre-Ouest de la France reste peu aisée. La plupart de ces objets de petite taille ont été recueillis en milieu sépulcral, là où la fouille fait souvent appel à un tamisage... more

La caractérisation de la parure du Néolithique récent dans le Centre-Ouest de la France reste peu aisée. La plupart de ces objets de petite taille ont été recueillis en milieu sépulcral, là où la fouille fait souvent appel à un tamisage systématique des terres. De multiples réutilisations dans les sépultures collectives construites au Néolithique moyen, tout au long du Néolithique récent et final, entravent toutefois une attribution sans faille du mobilier funéraire qui leur est associé. Les contextes d’habitat sont rarement d’un grand secours, tout comme le mobilier provenant du comblement des fossés de ces vastes enceintes qui se multiplient ici à partir du Néolithique récent. Les pièces de parure provenant de tels contextes sont extrêmement minoritaires au vu du nombre de dépôts ou de rejets domestiques de toute sorte alors recueillis. Elles le sont également comparées au nombre de pièces de parure provenant de sépultures. Résultant de chaînes opératoires assez courtes, la valeur identitaire intrinsèque au contexte de production est, de plus, souvent difficilement perceptible au premier abord sur ce type de pièces. Un tel constat révèle aussi le peu d’attention portée par nombre de nos collègues à ce qu’ils jugent comme un peu accessoire. Les parures corporelles, affichées à la vue de tous comme le vêtement auquel elles concourent, furent pourtant les marqueurs explicites d’une identité que l’on cherche souvent à caractériser par tant d’autres moyens. Pour mieux tenir compte de tous ces paramètres, il a semblé utile d’adjoindre à l’étude des quelques pièces de parure recueillies dans l’enceinte fossoyée de Champ-Durand, à Nieul-sur-l’Autise en Vendée, l’étude encore inédite de celles provenant de la fouille, également assez récente, d’un monument mégalithique situé de l’autre coté du Marais poitevin, à Availles-sur-Chizé dans les Deux-Sèvres. Il semble qu’il fut réutilisé au cours du Néolithique récent.

The Gdańsk Archaeological Museum Expedition (GAME) mission to the Fourth Cataract region took to the field between 1996 and 2009. Between Kareima and the village of el-Lamer on the right bank of the Nile, more than 13,000 beads were... more

The paper presents the adornment objects of the Recent and the Late Neolithic of the Northern Italy dated approximately between 4500 and 3800 cal. BC, focusing on those of the Chassey or Chassey-Lagozza groups. Unfortunately, this objects... more

The paper presents the adornment objects of the Recent and the Late Neolithic of the Northern Italy dated approximately between 4500 and 3800 cal. BC, focusing on those of the Chassey or Chassey-Lagozza groups. Unfortunately, this objects are rare and the common types are not so characteristics since the widespread ornaments count perforated shells, bones and some teeth, some Dentalium and steatite beads and pendants. It is possible that the ornaments were not so important for the Italian groups of the Chassey culture as they were for other Neolithic groups of the Italian Peninsula; the absence of ornaments could depend that they had personal ornaments made of organic materials not preserved or that they used other ways of adornment as for example tattoos o body paintings. To understand this phenomenon, the paper offers a brief outline of the adornment objects of communities related to the Italian Chassey groups: the Square Mouthed Pottery of the Italian Padan-alpine region, the Chamblandes group of western Switzerland and the southern Chassey of South France.
L’articolo presenta gli ornamenti del Neolitico recente dell’Italia settentrionale riferibili ai gruppi Chassey o Chassey-Lagozza e databili tra il 4500 e il 3800 BC circa. Sfortunatamente, gli ornamenti sono rari ed essi non sono molto caratteristici dal momento che i tipi più comuni annoverano conchiglie, ossa e denti forati, qualche Dentalium ed elementi in steatite tra i quali vi sono pendagli e vaghi di collana. È possibile che le parures non fossero oggetti molto importanti per le genti Chassey come invece lo erano per altri gruppi neolitici della Penisola italiana; ma è anche possibile che venissero impiegati ornamenti in materie organiche non preservate o che altre forme di adorno venissero usate come ad esempio i tatuaggi o le pitture corporali. Per comprendere questo fenomeno, l’articolo prende brevemente in considerazione anche gli ornamenti personali di altre comunità neolitiche in relazione con i gruppi Chassey italiani: i Vasi a Bocca Quadrata della regione padano-alpina, il gruppo Chamblandes della Svizzera occidentale e il Chasseano meridionale della Francia meridionale.

Dans le chapitre précédent ont été exposés les arguments qui permettent de démontrer une origine strictement alpine pour les anneaux-disques réguliers à section triangulaire en jades ou en serpentinite. Ce type d'anneau a vu le jour en... more

Dans le chapitre précédent ont été exposés les arguments qui permettent de démontrer une origine strictement alpine pour les anneaux-disques réguliers à section triangulaire en jades ou en serpentinite. Ce type d'anneau a vu le jour en Italie du Nord pendant la deuxième moitié du VIe millénaire. Cependant la production italienne a périclité au début du Ve, tandis que le relais était pris par un deuxième centre de production, situé sur le versant français des Alpes ; cette production « secondaire » s’est poursuivie pendant la première moitié du Ve millénaire.

Les autres types d’anneaux réguliers en serpentinite semblent, grosso modo, liés à la même dynamique d’origine alpine, mais avec des variantes intéressantes.

Les anneaux à section ovalaire, absents en Italie (sauf aux Arene Candide), pourraient correspondre à une production en petites quantités sur le versant français des Alpes ; bien que ce type d’anneau soit encore mal daté, sa diffusion en direction du Bassin parisien et de la Bretagne ne semble pas débuter avant l’extrême fin du VIe millénaire.

Tous les arguments vont également dans le sens d’une origine alpine pour les anneaux-disques réguliers à couronne large et à section quadrangulaire. Ce modèle apparaît probablement vers la fin du VIe millénaire, postérieurement aux exemplaires à couronne triangulaire d’Italie du Nord. Leur répartition montre une diffusion essentiellement nord-occidentale en direction du Bassin parisien et de la Bretagne, tandis que leur présence est exceptionnelle en Italie. Cette catégorie d’anneaux, produits et utilisés en même temps que les exemplaires à section triangulaire – ce qui suggère différents modes de marquage social – est également à rapporter au versant français des Alpes. La production des anneaux larges à section quadrangulaire a couvert l’essentiel de la première moitié du Ve millénaire, avec le Blicquy-Villeneuve-Saint-Germain (B-VSG) bien sûr, mais aussi la première phase des tumulus carnacéens, où de tels anneaux ont été associés à de longues haches repolies de type Bégude, comme à Saint-Pierre-Quiberon (Morbihan).

La question des anneaux-disques réguliers à couronne étroite et à section quadrangulaire s’avère plus complexe. En effet, quelques exemplaires – probablement attribuables à la fin du VIe millénaire – ont été identifiés en Italie du Nord ; mais ils y sont très rares et de petit diamètre. Au contraire, les exemplaires les plus nombreux sont dispersés dans le Bassin parisien, la Normandie, le nord de la France, la Belgique et la Rhénanie, c’est-à-dire dans une aire géographique qui se situe globalement au nord de la zone de circulation majoritaire des anneaux à couronne large et à section quadrangulaire. Ils sont par ailleurs absents dans les Alpes, le couloir rhodanien et la Bourgogne. De surcroît, ce type d’anneau-disque est absolument identique au modèle dominant dans les productions régionales en schiste du B-VSG, seule la matière première permettant de les différencier.

Puisque les gîtes de serpentinite sont absents dans la zone de concentration des anneaux étroits à section quadrangulaire, force est alors de les rapporter également à une origine alpine, mais peut-être selon un parcours biographique très particulier : certains anneaux à couronne large et section quadrangulaire – démontrés avoir circulé depuis un centre secondaire de production alpine – auraient été repolis en ambiance B-VSG jusqu’à obtenir une couronne étroite répondant aux critères sociaux de cette culture.

Un tel processus de repolissage et de modification de la forme a déjà été mis en évidence dans le cas des grandes lames en jades alpins parvenues dans le Bassin parisien ou, plus loin encore, dans le Morbihan. Nous le retrouverons également, dans le chapitre suivant, dans le cas de plusieurs anneaux-disques irréguliers de provenance rhénane ou rhodanienne et arrivés jusqu'en Bretagne après avoir transité par le Bassin parisien.

Abstract :

Other Alpine disc-rings of regular shape

The previous chapter presented the arguments in favour of a strictly Alpine origin for the disc-rings of regular shape with triangular-section hoops made from jades or serpentinite. This type of disc-ring originated in northern Italy during the second half of the sixth millennium. However, its production in Italy abated at the beginning of the fifth millennium, while a second centre of production, situated on the French side of the Alps, took over; this ‘secondary’ production continued during the first half of the fifth millennium.

The other types of disc-ring of regular shape made from serpentinite seem, by and large, to be linked to the same dynamic, with an Alpine origin, but with interesting variants.

Disc-rings with oval-section hoops, which are absent from Italy (except at Arene Candide cave), may have been produced in small quantities on the French side of the Alps. Even though this type is still poorly dated, its diffusion towards the Paris Basin does not seem to have begun until the very end of the sixth millennium.

All the arguments point towards an Alpine origin for the regular-shaped disc-rings with a wide, rectangular-section hoop. This variant probably appeared around the end of the sixth millennium, later than the triangular-hooped disc-rings of northern Italy. Their distribution reveals that their diffusion was basically in a north-westerly direction towards the Paris Basin and Brittany; they occur only exceptionally in Italy. This category of disc-ring – which was produced and used at the same time as those with triangular-section hoops, thereby suggesting that hoop shape was a kind of social marker – was also produced on the French side of the Alps. Disc-rings with wide, rectangular-section hoops were produced over most of the first half of the fifth millennium, spanning the duration of the Blicquy-Villeneuve-Saint-Germain (B-VSG) culture but also including the first phase of the Carnac tumuli: such disc-rings had been associated with long repolished adze-heads of Bégude type in these tumuli, as at Saint-Pierre-Quiberon (Morbihan).

The question of the disc-rings of regular shape with narrow, rectangular-section hoops is more complex. In effect, several examples – probably attributable to the end of the sixth millennium – had been identified in northern Italy, but these examples are very rare and of small diameter. In contrast, the most numerous examples are dispersed in the Paris Basin, Normandy, the north of France, Belgium and the Rhine – in other words, across a geographical area that mostly lies to the north of the main circulation zone for disc-rings with wide, quadrangular-section hoops. Elsewhere, they are absent from the Alps, the Rhône corridor and Burgundy. Moreover, this type of disc-ring is absolutely identical to the dominant model among the B-VSG schist disc-rings that were produced regionally, the only difference being in the raw material used.

Since there are no outcrops of serpentinite in the zone where the narrow, quadrangular-section disc-rings concentrate, an Alpine origin must again be proposed. But perhaps this type of disc-ring has a very particular biography: certain examples with a wide, rectangular-section hoop, which have been shown to have circulated from a secondary production centre in the Alps, seem to have been repolished within a B-VSG context in order to produce a narrow hoop, conforming to the social criteria of that culture.

This process of repolishing and reshaping has already been demonstrated in the case of the large axe- and adze-heads of Alpine jades that circulated around the Paris Basin and, further away, in the Morbihan. We shall find it again, in the following chapter, in the case of many of the irregular-shaped disc-rings that originated in the Rhine or Rhône and ended up in Brittany, having passed through the Paris Basin.

The article is focused on the diadems deriving from graves and hoards. A closer examination of their specific contexts, coupled with ethnographic observations, indicates their frequent use as symbols of elevated position, but also as... more

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Artifacts of female dress such as brooches and pendants have long been objects of interest to scholars of late Iron Age /early medieval Scandinavia. They figure in dating and tracing stylistic developments, and their presence is often... more

"In the Ancient world, children are regarded as frail, requiring care and special protection because of their transitional biological state. Different sets of jewels and amulets found in infant graves from southern Italian cemeteries... more

"In the Ancient world, children are regarded as frail, requiring care and special protection because of their transitional biological state. Different sets of jewels and amulets found in infant graves from southern Italian cemeteries demonstrate the at-tention shared by the indigenous and Greek societies in the Mediterranean area. However, these objects do not express only apotropaic values. Jewellery and amulets evidence cross–cultural exchanges; they are also identity and social markers, and even signs of fame and prestige. The study of this material exemplifies how early childhood can reflect the socio–economic hierarchies and dynamics of ancient societies.

Dans le monde antique, l’enfant par son état biologique transitoire, est un être considéré comme fragile, nécessitant des soins et une protection particulière. Les différents types de parures et amulettes découverts dans les sépultures infantiles des nécropoles d’Italie du Sud illustrent cette attention qui est commune aux sociétés indigènes et grecques de l’ensemble du bassin méditerranéen. Pour autant, ces objets produisent un discours qui dépasse la seule fonction apotropaïque. Témoins d’échanges culturels, les parures et amulettes sont aussi des marqueurs d’identité et des instruments de distinction sociale, voire de prestige, qui font de l’enfant un reflet des différentes hiérarchies et dynamiques présentes dans les sociétés de l’Antiquité.

Nel mondo antico il bambino è considerato, a causa del suo stato biologico transitorio, un essere fragile, bisognoso di particolare cura e protezione. I diversi tipi di parures e amuleti scoperti nelle sepolture infantili delle necropoli dell’Italia meridionale indicano questa attenzione, comune tanto alle società indigene che a quelle greche in tutto il bacino del Mediterraneo. Tuttavia, l’importanza di questi oggetti travalica la loro funzione apotropaica. Testimonianze di scambi culturali, parures e amuleti sono anche marcatori di identità e strumenti di distinzione sociale o di prestigio, che fanno del bambino un riflesso delle differenti gerarchie e delle dinamiche in atto nelle società antiche."

Ring-shaped objects, used mainly as bracelets, appear in the archaeological record associated with the first farming societies around the Mediterranean area. These bracelets, among other personal ornaments, are related to the spread of... more

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- by Valentina Kuznetsova and +1
  Natalia Grigoreva
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- 5
  Archaeology of Personal Adornment, zoomorphic Figurines, Staraya Ladoga, Zoomorphic Pendants

This volume offers a broad and up-to-date discussion of the Spondylus “phenomenon” in prehistory, in diverse archaeological contexts from Europe and two areas of the New World. It brings together new archaeological data, methodological... more

This volume offers a broad and up-to-date discussion of the Spondylus “phenomenon” in prehistory, in diverse archaeological contexts from Europe and two areas of the New World. It brings together new archaeological data, methodological advances, and current interpretations for the study of this important material. Further understanding comes from consideration of other shell technologies, ancient and traditional.

CONTENTS

Introduction
A Volume on Spondylus
Marianna Nikolaidou & Fotis Ifantidis, pp. 3-8

I – Spanning Space and Time in Spondylus Studies: Artifacts, Symbols, Identities

CHAPTER 1 Spondylus Shells at Prehistoric Sites in the Iberian Peninsula
Esteban Álvarez-Fernández, pp. 13-18

CHAPTER 2 Spondylus sp. at Lezetxiki Cave (Basque Country, Spain): First Evidence of its Use in Symbolic Behavior during the Aurignacian in Europe
Álvaro Arrizabalaga, Esteban Álvarez-Fernández & María-José Iriarte, pp. 19-24

CHAPTER 3 Spondylus gaederopus in Prehistoric Italy: Jewels from Neolithic and Copper Age Sites
Maria Angelica Borrello & Roberto Micheli, pp. 25-37

CHAPTER 4 Status of Spondylus Artifacts within the LBK Grave Goods
Jan John, pp. 39-45

CHAPTER 5 Reconsideration of Spondylus Usage in the Middle and Late Neolithic of the Carpathian Basin
Zsuzsanna Siklósi & Piroska Csengeri, pp. 47-62

CHAPTER 6 Spondylus in South American Prehistory
Benjamin P. Carter, pp. 63-89

II – Views from the “Threshold”: Spondylus Technologies in the Aegean

CHAPTER 7 Spondylus gaederopus in Aegean Prehistory: Deciphering Shapes from Northern Greece
Tatiana Theodoropoulou, pp. 93-104

CHAPTER 8 The Neolithic Settlement at Makriyalos, Northern Greece: Evidence from the Spondylus gaederopus Artifacts
Maria Pappa & Rena Veropoulidou, pp. 105-121

CHAPTER 9 Cosmos in Fragments: Spondylus and Glycymeris Adornment at Neolithic Dispilio, Greece, pp. 123-137
Fotis Ifantidis

CHAPTER 10 Personhood and the Life Cycle of Spondylus rings: An Example from Late Neolithic, Greece
John C. Chapman, Bisserka I. Gaydarska, Evangelia Skafida & Stella Souvatzi, pp. 139-160

CHAPTER 11 Spondylus Objects from Theopetra Cave, Greece: Imported or Local Production?
Nina Kyparissi-Apostolika, pp. 161-167

III – Reconstructing Lives: Archaeometric and Experimental Analyses

CHAPTER 12 The Contribution of Archaeometry to the Study of Prehistoric Marine Shells
Katerina Douka, pp. 171-180

CHAPTER 13 Paleobiological Study of Spondylus Jewelry found in Neolithic (LPC) Graves at the Locality Vedrovice (Moravia, Czech Republic)
Šárka Hladilová, pp. 181-189

CHAPTER 14 Spondylus gaederopus Tools and Meals in Central Greece from the 3rd to the Early 1st Millennium BCE
Rena Veropoulidou, pp. 191-208

CHAPTER 15 Pre-Hispanic Attire made of Spondylus from Tula, Mexico
Adrián Velázquez Castro, Belem Zúñiga Arellano & Valentín Maldonado, pp. 209-219

Concluding Commentary
Lives and Journeys, of Spondylus and People: A Story to Conclude
Marianna Nikolaidou, pp. 223-237"

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- by Fotis Ifantidis and +1
  Marianna Nikolaidou
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  Archaeology, Archaeomalacology, Mediterranean prehistory, The body in archaeology

Excavations conducted during the 2009-2014 seasons at the burial site of Sedeinga, Nubia, produced 3,400 beads and pendants of various materials which date to the Late Napatan and Meroitic periods, ca. 400 B.C.-A.D. 300. The... more

Des premiers paysans aux premiers métallurgistes sur la façade atlantique de la France (3500-2000 av. J.-C.)

Through an analysis of the ninth- to eighth-century B.C.E. mortuary assemblages from the Queens’ Tombs of Nimrud’s Northwest Palace in Iraq, this paper interprets dress elements and ensembles in terms of identity and ideology. The Queens’... more

Dongola between the 6th and the 17th centuries AD experienced several cultural shifts from a post-Meroitic center through a capital city of the Christian kingdom of Makuria to a post- Makurian settlement with encroaching Islam. Beads have... more

The paper offers an analysis of the employment of steatite in Emilia during the Middle Neolithic connected with personal ornaments manufacturing. Steatite is a soft rock easy to work outcropping in the ophiolitic masses of the northern... more

In the long history of the land between the Third and Fourth Cataracts on the Nile, the Early Makuria period is particularly well represented. The El-Zuma tumuli cemetery has been dated to the Early Makuria Phase II (AD 450–550). Although... more

Two different groups of green stones with a distant origin are found together in the Neolithic tombs of the Carnac Region (Brittany, France): Alpine jades (jadeitite, omphacitite, eclogite, nephrite) were used as raw material for polished... more

Archaeology of Personal Adornment

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