Additional evidence on the use of personal ornaments in the Middle Paleolithic of North Africa
Francesco d'Errico
(1)
,
Marian Vanhaeren
(2)
,
Nick Barton
(3)
,
Abdeljalil Bouzouggar
(4)
,
Henk Mienis
(5)
,
Daniel Richter
(6)
,
Jean-Jacques Hublin
(6)
,
Shannon Mcpherron
(6)
,
Pierre Lozouet
(7)
1
PACEA -
De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie
2 ArScAn - Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité
3 Institute of Archaeology
4 INSAP - Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine
5 National Natural History Collections
6 Department of Human Evolution [Leipzig]
7 MNHN - Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
2 ArScAn - Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité
3 Institute of Archaeology
4 INSAP - Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine
5 National Natural History Collections
6 Department of Human Evolution [Leipzig]
7 MNHN - Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
Francesco d'Errico
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 738812
- IdHAL : francesco-derrico
- ORCID : 0000-0002-2422-3079
- IdRef : 033791899
Daniel Richter
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 749412
- IdHAL : daniel-richter
Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1171163
- IdHAL : jean-jacques-hublin
- IdRef : 026926741
Résumé
Recent investigations into the origins of symbolism indicate that personal ornaments in the form of perforated marine shell beads were used in the Near East, North Africa, and SubSaharan Africa at least 35 ka earlier than any personal ornaments in Europe. Together with instances of pigment use, engravings, and formal bone tools, personal ornaments are used to support an early emergence of behavioral modernity in Africa, associated with the origin of our species and significantly predating the timing for its dispersal out of Africa. Criticisms have been leveled at the low numbers of recovered shells, the lack of secure dating evidence, and the fact that documented examples were not deliberately shaped. In this paper, we report on 25 additional shell beads from four Moroccan Middle Paleolithic sites. We review their stratigraphic and chronological contexts and address the issue of these shells having been deliberately modified and used. We detail the results of comparative analyses of modern, fossil, and archaeological assemblages and microscopic examinations of the Moroccan material. We conclude that Nassarius shells were consistently used for personal ornamentation in this region at the end of the last interglacial. Absence of ornaments at Middle Paleolithic sites postdating Marine Isotope Stage 5 raises the question of the possible role of climatic changes in the disappearance of this hallmark of symbolic behavior before its reinvention 40 ka ago. Our results suggest that further inquiry is necessary into the mechanisms of cultural transmission within early Homo sapiens populations.
Domaines
Archéologie et PréhistoireFormat du dépôt | Notice |
---|---|
Type de dépôt | Article dans une revue |
Titre |
en
Additional evidence on the use of personal ornaments in the Middle Paleolithic of North Africa
|
Résumé |
en
Recent investigations into the origins of symbolism indicate that personal ornaments in the form of perforated marine shell beads were used in the Near East, North Africa, and SubSaharan Africa at least 35 ka earlier than any personal ornaments in Europe. Together with instances of pigment use, engravings, and formal bone tools, personal ornaments are used to support an early emergence of behavioral modernity in Africa, associated with the origin of our species and significantly predating the timing for its dispersal out of Africa. Criticisms have been leveled at the low numbers of recovered shells, the lack of secure dating evidence, and the fact that documented examples were not deliberately shaped. In this paper, we report on 25 additional shell beads from four Moroccan Middle Paleolithic sites. We review their stratigraphic and chronological contexts and address the issue of these shells having been deliberately modified and used. We detail the results of comparative analyses of modern, fossil, and archaeological assemblages and microscopic examinations of the Moroccan material. We conclude that Nassarius shells were consistently used for personal ornamentation in this region at the end of the last interglacial. Absence of ornaments at Middle Paleolithic sites postdating Marine Isotope Stage 5 raises the question of the possible role of climatic changes in the disappearance of this hallmark of symbolic behavior before its reinvention 40 ka ago. Our results suggest that further inquiry is necessary into the mechanisms of cultural transmission within early Homo sapiens populations.
|
Auteur(s) |
Francesco d'Errico
1
, Marian Vanhaeren
2
, Nick Barton
3
, Abdeljalil Bouzouggar
4
, Henk Mienis
5
, Daniel Richter
6
, Jean-Jacques Hublin
6
, Shannon Mcpherron
6
, Pierre Lozouet
7
1
PACEA -
De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie
( 205557 )
- Université de Bordeaux - Bâtiment B8 - CS50023 - Allée Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire - 33615 Pessac Cedex
- France
2
ArScAn -
Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité
( 1003 )
- MSH Mondes (bâtiment René-Ginouvès). 21, allée de l’Université 92023 NANTERRE Cedex
- France
3
Institute of Archaeology
( 106036 )
- Oxford OX1 2PG,
- Royaume-Uni
4
INSAP -
Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine
( 6591 )
- Avenue John Kennedy, casier postal, Rabat, Maroc
- Maroc
5
National Natural History Collections
( 107425 )
- Jerusalem 01904
- Israël
6
Department of Human Evolution [Leipzig]
( 86037 )
- Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Allemagne
7
MNHN -
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
( 7512 )
- 57, rue Cuvier - 75231 Paris Cedex 05
- France
|
Langue du document |
Anglais
|
Nom de la revue |
|
Vulgarisation |
Non
|
Comité de lecture |
Oui
|
Audience |
Internationale
|
Date de publication |
2009
|
Volume |
106
|
Numéro |
38
|
Page/Identifiant |
16051-16056
|
Domaine(s) |
|
Mots-clés |
en
Aterian, behavioral modernity, Homo sapiens, Nassarius, symbolism
|
DOI | 10.1073/pnas.0903532106 |
PubMed Central | PMC2752514 |
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