Experimental studies of personal ornaments from the Iron Gates Mesolithic

Abstract

Personal ornaments, especially those made from the shells of marine mollusks and animal teeth, have been recovered from many Mesolithic sites across Europe. This paper reviews the evidence of personal ornaments from the Mesolithic of the Iron Gates, where such finds were identified in five sites on the Romanian bank: the cave and rock shelter sites of

Evidence of Neolithic settlement in the foothills of the Western al‐Hajar Mountains

“…The corroded state of preservation of the Hayy al‐Sarh specimens prevents a detailed analysis of the holes’ manufacturing process. Comparisons with experimental results (Mărgărit, Radu, Boroneanţ, & Bonsall, ) are therefore difficult. The holes are located in similar parts of the shell indicating that they have been used in a similar way (Fig.…”

The Iron Gates Mesolithic – a brief review of recent developments

“…In addition to continuing the excavations at Schela Cladovei, the present authors are currently involved in experimental studies of body ornaments and bone artefacts from the Iron Gates Mesolithic and Early Neolithic (e.g. Mărgărit et al, 2017a;2017b) and continue to contribute to research on the genetic background of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Southeast Europe including the Iron Gates. Such is the pace and scope of current research on the Mesolithic and the transition to farming in the Iron Gates that it is likely all attempts to review the « current state » of the research will be short-lived, if not out-dated by the time of their publication.…”

“…The scarcity of ornaments from burials may in part reflect the rescue nature of the excavations, in which small hand tools (such as trowels) and fine sieving were rarely used. There is some temporal variation in the types of ornaments that occur (Borić and Cristiani, 2016;Mărgărit et al, 2017a). For the Early and Middle Mesolithic there are no certain finds of body ornaments with burials.…”

“…Beads made from marine and freshwater molluscs and pendants made from animal teeth have been recovered from « settlement contexts » in four sites on the Romanian bank of the Danube (Cuina Turcului, Climente II, Ostrovul Banului and Icoana); some of the ornaments from Cuina Turcului may have been associated with burials that were not recognized as such during excavations there. No perforated animal tooth ornaments have been recovered from Late and Final Mesolithic burials, where two main types of body ornament occur -shell beads and ornaments made from cyprinid teeth and shells of the marine gastropod, Tritia neritea, which were probably sewn or stuck onto clothing in the manner of appliqués (Cristiani and Boric, 2012;Cristiani et al, 2014;Mărgărit et al, 2017a). Annular stone beads and tubular beads of Spondylus shell (resembling those from Early Neolithic contexts in the Balkans) were found associated with some very late Mesolithic burials at Vlasac, while annular stone beads were also found with very late (or « Final ») Mesolithic burials at Lepenski Vir.…”

Mobility and social identity in the Mid Upper Paleolithic: New personal ornaments from Poiana Cireșului (Piatra Neamț, Romania)

“…The perforation method and use-wear analysis for 12 of the Lithoglyphus naticoides specimens as well as the experiments to determine their identify have been published [21]. Observations on the specimens found in recent years have been compared to previous results [22, 23, 24]. Several sources were used to identify the perforation methods employed on the Homalopoma sanguineum shells.…”