Malacology (Archaeology)

Our paper (1) proposes a new chronology for Ksâr 'Akil based on 16 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) determinations on shells. To minimize the possibility of dating diagenetically compromised samples, we conducted amino acid racemization analyses on the intracrystalline proteins, oxygen isotope analysis, and geochemical characterization of all dated shells. Our calibrated radiocarbon ages fit well with existing Levantine chronologies, but are up to 4,000 y older than Douka et al.'s (2). Our paper explores several possibilities for this difference, whereas Douka et al.

La fouille de ce site est importante à plusieurs titres. Elle a permis de confirmer les observations géologiques récentes sur la complexité de la formation de la plaine maritime flamande. Elle a également permis, à notre connaissance, de révéler la pratique du tourbage à une période antérieure au I er s. de notre ère.
Le mobilier céramique attribué à la phase 2 enrichi nos connaissance sur la chronologie des céramiques modelées de la région. Mais c'est l'étude archéozoologique qui apporte les indices les plus intéressants permettant la caractérisation saisonnière de l'occupation de la phase 2. La volonté d'aménagement du territoire dans la seconde moitié du I er s de notre ère est semble t-il perturbée par un phénomène environnemental ayant provoqué l’inondation du site. Les populations réfugiées sur les hauteurs du banc de Marck ont attendu le II e s. de notre ère pour reprendre le travail d'assèchement des terres. La fouille permet ainsi de révéler l'un des sites pérenne le mieux structuré par de grands travaux à la fois pour cette période et dans un contexte géologique particulièrement humide situé en dessous de 2 m NGF.

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"

Au cours de la campagne de fouilles 2016 de l'Université de Chypre sur le plateau de Kouklia-Hadjiabdoullah, des coquilles de murex ont été découvertes en nombre exceptionnellement important (430 kg), concentrées dans le complexe industriel (West Complex) qui occupe avec le « palais » (East Complex) la partie nord du plateau. Cette découverte inattendue nous a conduits, dans un premier temps, à établir un projet en coopération avec l'Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP) Study Center for East Crete, puis, peu après, à organiser en commun (1 er-2 novembre 2019) un atelier sur le thème « The materiality of purple dye production and use in Cyprus and the Aegean from Prehistory to the Late Roman period ». Cet article constitue un rapport préliminaire sur le contexte de découverte et l'étude des coquilles trouvées dans le West Complex.

Resumen
En Mesoamérica, muchas de las sociedades que prosperaron durante el periodo histórico conocido como Formativo, experimentaron cambios que llevaron a su diferenciación jerárquica interna. Algunos grupos, considerados poseedores de un mayor prestigio, se apoderaron del poder político, económico y religioso. Las élites nacientes requirieron de bienes llamados de lujo o de prestigio para resaltar su mayor estatus. Uno de los casos más interesantes en el contexto anterior, es el de una tumba y un entierro excavados recientemente en Chiapa de Corzo, México. Dentro de los ricos ajuares funerarios encontrados en la inhumación de cuatro individuos, se hallaron algunos de los ejemplos más antiguos del trabajo de conchas de moluscos conocido hasta el momento. Estos materiales fueron considerados como de los más valiosos por parte de las antiguas culturas de Mesoamérica.

Abstract
During Formative period, many Mesoamerican societies experienced changes that led to their internal hierarchical differentiation. The most prestigious groups seized the political, economic and religious power. Emergent elites required imported luxury goods to emphasize their higher status. In this context, we analize the case of two elite burials recently excavated in Chiapa de Corzo, Mexico. Among the rich funerary offerings included in the burial of four individuals, were found some of the earliest examples of the work of mollusk shells known so far. These materials were considered among the most valuable by the ancient cultures of Mesoamerica.

El objetivo del análisis de determinación malacológica para el sitio Pampa de la Pelota fue señalar las
especies presentes en el registro arqueológico, y cuantificar el volumen de las mismas en su
distribución espacial. Con este análisis se podrán inferir las causas de una posible diferenciación
espacial, además de tener una base comparativa con otros sitios arqueológicos del valle. Se buscó
también señalar si es que las especies presentes en Pampa de la Pelota son de consumo habitual, de
uso sistemático en la distribución de las especies, y/o de presencia ocasional y estacional.

The use of seashells of the genus Charonia as conch trumpets both in ritual contexts and in multiple scopes of the societies of the ancient world is widely attested by archaeological and written sources in many areas of the Mediterranean. However, this pattern has remained almost unnoticed thus far in the Punic western area (including also the Atlantic coast), with little mention in the Greco-Latin authors and even more exiguous published archaeological remains. This available information and new archaeological data are evaluated, focusing on the presence of Triton shell horns in diverse contexts of Phoenician and Punic period located in the Straits of Gibraltar region. These new findings come mostly from well-dated stratified contexts and which made possible a precise approach to its functionalities, so this information will allow raising an outline on issues such as dating of these seashells or their relationship with particular environments. Consequently, we will lay emphasis on the multifunctional role that these items seem to have played in the western Mediterranean Punic area, attested both in ritual contexts as well as in main settlements or industrial workshops (in this case, essentially related with fishing tasks).

This study reports on an analysis of human adaptations to sea level changes in the tropical monsoonal environment of Peninsula Thailand. We excavated Khao Toh Chong rockshelter in Krabi and recorded archaeological deposits spanning the last 13,000 years. A suite of geoarchaeological methods suggest largely uninterrupted deposition, against a backdrop of geological data that show major changes in sea levels. Although there is a small assemblage of mostly undiagnostic ceramics and stone artefacts, there are some distinct changes in stone artefact technology and ceramic fabric. There is a substantial faunal assemblage, with changes in both the mammalian and shellfish taxa during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition that correlate with local sea level fluctuation. This assemblage provides an opportunity to explore subsistence behaviours leading up to the transition to the Neolithic. We explore the implications for current debates on the prehistoric origins of agricultural subsistence in mainland Southeast Asia. The data highlight the importance of local contingencies in understanding the mechanisms of change from foragers to agriculturalists.

The end of the Middle Pleistocene is an interesting period for investigating the transformation of Neandertal behavior from the early Middle Paleolithic to the late Middle Paleolithic. Few sites in the Iberian Peninsula have sequences corresponding to the last interglacial (MIS5) and even fewer in the Cantabrian Region. One of the best places to investigate this subject is the sequence recently excavated in Arlanpe cave. Several proxies (sedimentology, pollen, small vertebrates, malacofauna, U/Th dating) locate the first phases of this sequence between MIS7 and MIS5, with the important occurrence of temperate environmental evidence. The archaeological record describes populations with high mobility that used the cave as an occasional shelter in the first phases, or as an activity area in the later ones. The characteristics of lithic productions show a combination of Lower (Acheulean bifacial shaping) and Middle Paleolithic (Levallois Technology) traits that justifies an early Middle Paleolithic attribution.

La fin du Pléistocène moyen est une période intéressante pour la recherche de la transformation du comportement de l’homme de Néandertal depuis le début jusqu’à la fin du Paléolithique moyen. Quelques sites de la péninsule Ibérique ont des séquences correspondant au dernier Interglaciaire (MIS5) et aussi, mais moins nombreuses, dans la région cantabrique. L’un des endroits le plus favorable pour ce type d’étude est la séquence récemment mise à jour dans la grotte d’Arlanpe. Différentes approches (sédimentologie, pollen, petits vertébrés, malacofaune, datation U/Th) placent les premières phases de cette séquence entre MIS7 et MIS5, avec l’important evidence d’un environnement tempéré. Le registre archéologique décrit des populations à mobilité élevée, qui utilisaient la grotte comme abri occasionnel dans les premières phases ou comme zone d’activité dans les dernières. Les caractéristiques des productions lithiques montrent une combinaison de traits du Paléolithique inférieur (façonnement biface acheuléen) et moyen (technique Levallois) qui justifient l’attribution au Paléolithique moyen ancien.

The Tell es-Sultan, ancient Jericho, is amongst the earliest “cities” that rose in the Southern Levant between the end of 4th and the beginning of the 3rd millennium BCE. The site is being excavated, studied and rehabilitated for tourism by Sapienza University of Rome and the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities since 1997. In 2017, during the 13th season of excavation, an unexpected discovery occurred: five Chambardia rubens shells have been found piled up in a dwelling unit dating back to the Early Bronze Age IB-II. The discovery is a tangible evidence of trade and cultural interconnections between the Southern Levant and Egypt, as these shells belong to a species that is only been found to live in the Nile. Moreover, chemical analysis, and thorough Scanning Electron Microscopy examination revealed that the shells contained Manganese Dioxide, an inorganic compound used as make-up ingredient in ancient Egypt, and available in the ores of the Sinai. These findings strongly support the existence of a link between the urban rise in EB IB-II through international trade of luxury goods, and are suggestive of the emergence at Jericho of a ruling elite that was influenced by Egypt.

In Jaffa, 50 fragments of at least 20 individuals of Chambardia rubens were found in a refuse pit of the Late Ottoman to Early British Mandate periods.  Although Chambardia rubens has been known, used and consumed in Israel/Palestine since proto-historic times, the evidence under discussion for consumption of imported Chambardia rubens in Late Ottoman and British Mandate Jaffa remains the most significant one of its kind known from the archaeological or written records so far. It is a rare product whose presence testifies to the highly cosmopolitan and urbanized character of Jaffa as a coastal city in the Levant.