Abstract
Ten early Upper Paleolithic layers in üçaĝi{dotless}zli{dotless} Cave I (41-29 uncalibrated ky BP) on the Hatay coast of southern Turkey preserve a rich and varied record of early Upper Paleolithic life, including the production and use of large numbers of shell ornaments. This study examines shell bead production, use, and discard in relation to site function and the diversity of on-site human activities. Four factors are expected to contribute to variation in the ornament assemblages, one environmental and three behavioral. The behavioral factors relate to winnowing for quality as a function of distance from the raw material source, changes in the size of user groups, and symbol standardization. The accumulation rates for shell beads, bones, and stone tools paralleled one another through time, indicating that ornament discard followed the pulse of daily life at this site. All stages of manufacture and use are well represented in each assemblage, and half or more of the ornaments show evidence of extended use. Changes in the local marine environment do not explain much of the variation in the assemblages, pointing instead to behavioral causes. The richness of shell types that were collected as raw material correlates to greater exploitation of edible marine shellfish and greater occupation intensity. Much of this variation in the ornament raw material was eliminated during the manufacture stage, almost certainly reflecting the influence of cultural norms. A focus on basket-shaped shells changed remarkably little over thousands of years, despite significant changes in other domains of technology. This last result suggests that beads were the most irreducible and conservative elements of more complex design traditions.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 380-398 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Journal of Human Evolution |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2013 |
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Keywords
- Shell ornaments
- Taphonomy
- Technological experiments
- üçaĝizli
- Zooarchaeology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Education
Cite this
Early Upper Paleolithic shell beads at üçaĝi{dotless}zli{dotless} Cave I (Turkey) : Technology and the socioeconomic context of ornament life-histories. / Stiner, Mary C; Kuhn, Steven L; Güleç, Erksin.
In: Journal of Human Evolution, Vol. 64, No. 5, 05.2013, p. 380-398.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Early Upper Paleolithic shell beads at üçaĝi{dotless}zli{dotless} Cave I (Turkey)
T2 - Technology and the socioeconomic context of ornament life-histories
AU - Stiner, Mary C
AU - Kuhn, Steven L
AU - Güleç, Erksin
PY - 2013/5
Y1 - 2013/5
N2 - Ten early Upper Paleolithic layers in üçaĝi{dotless}zli{dotless} Cave I (41-29 uncalibrated ky BP) on the Hatay coast of southern Turkey preserve a rich and varied record of early Upper Paleolithic life, including the production and use of large numbers of shell ornaments. This study examines shell bead production, use, and discard in relation to site function and the diversity of on-site human activities. Four factors are expected to contribute to variation in the ornament assemblages, one environmental and three behavioral. The behavioral factors relate to winnowing for quality as a function of distance from the raw material source, changes in the size of user groups, and symbol standardization. The accumulation rates for shell beads, bones, and stone tools paralleled one another through time, indicating that ornament discard followed the pulse of daily life at this site. All stages of manufacture and use are well represented in each assemblage, and half or more of the ornaments show evidence of extended use. Changes in the local marine environment do not explain much of the variation in the assemblages, pointing instead to behavioral causes. The richness of shell types that were collected as raw material correlates to greater exploitation of edible marine shellfish and greater occupation intensity. Much of this variation in the ornament raw material was eliminated during the manufacture stage, almost certainly reflecting the influence of cultural norms. A focus on basket-shaped shells changed remarkably little over thousands of years, despite significant changes in other domains of technology. This last result suggests that beads were the most irreducible and conservative elements of more complex design traditions.
AB - Ten early Upper Paleolithic layers in üçaĝi{dotless}zli{dotless} Cave I (41-29 uncalibrated ky BP) on the Hatay coast of southern Turkey preserve a rich and varied record of early Upper Paleolithic life, including the production and use of large numbers of shell ornaments. This study examines shell bead production, use, and discard in relation to site function and the diversity of on-site human activities. Four factors are expected to contribute to variation in the ornament assemblages, one environmental and three behavioral. The behavioral factors relate to winnowing for quality as a function of distance from the raw material source, changes in the size of user groups, and symbol standardization. The accumulation rates for shell beads, bones, and stone tools paralleled one another through time, indicating that ornament discard followed the pulse of daily life at this site. All stages of manufacture and use are well represented in each assemblage, and half or more of the ornaments show evidence of extended use. Changes in the local marine environment do not explain much of the variation in the assemblages, pointing instead to behavioral causes. The richness of shell types that were collected as raw material correlates to greater exploitation of edible marine shellfish and greater occupation intensity. Much of this variation in the ornament raw material was eliminated during the manufacture stage, almost certainly reflecting the influence of cultural norms. A focus on basket-shaped shells changed remarkably little over thousands of years, despite significant changes in other domains of technology. This last result suggests that beads were the most irreducible and conservative elements of more complex design traditions.
KW - Shell ornaments
KW - Taphonomy
KW - Technological experiments
KW - üçaĝizli
KW - Zooarchaeology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84875907139&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84875907139&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.01.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.01.008
M3 - Article
C2 - 23481346
AN - SCOPUS:84875907139
VL - 64
SP - 380
EP - 398
JO - Journal of Human Evolution
JF - Journal of Human Evolution
SN - 0047-2484
IS - 5
ER -