Shell beads from Mandu Mandu Creek rock-shelter, Cape Range peninsula, Western Australia, dated before 30,000 b.p.

Shell beads from Mandu Mandu Creek rock-shelter, Cape Range peninsula, Western Australia, dated before 30,000 b.p. A site dated well back into the Pleistocene in Western Australia Western Australia,state (1991 pop. 1,409,965), 975,920 sq mi (2,527,633 sq km), Australia, comprising the entire western part of the continent. It is bounded on the N, W, and S by the Indian Ocean. Perth is the capital. yields modified shells, seen as a further evidence of the attributes ofmodern humans from an early Australian context.Recent reviews (Mellars 1989; Marshack 1990) have highlighted thecontinuing debate over the biological and behavioural origins of modernhuman populations. Research in Australasia has demonstrated thatanatomically modern humans were present by 30,000 b.p. (Wolpoff et at.1984; Webb 1989), although the region was first colonized at least40-50,000 b.p. and possibly much earlier (Pearce & Barbetti 1981;Groube et al. 1986; Allen et al. 1988; Jones 1989; Roberts et al. 1990).This paper reports the recent discovery of shell beads, dated c. 32,000b.p., from an archaeological site on the Cape Range peninsula, WesternAustralia. These artefacts are the earliest ornamental material yetrecovered from the Australasian Region and provide important newevidence for the development of sophisticated behavioural patterns byearly Australian populations.BackgroundCape Range peninsula forms a finger of land, once known asMadman's Corner, which stretches into the Indian Ocean on thewestern extremity of the Australian arid zone. The back-bone of thepeninsula is formed by Cape Range, an extremely rugged and largelyinaccessible limestone range dissected by numerous intermittentlyflowing creeks. Its western coast is bordered by Ningaloo Reef Ningaloo Reef is a fringing coral reef located off the west coast of Australia, approximately 1200 km north of Perth. The reef is 280 km long.It is known for its seasonal feeding concentrations of the whale shark, and the conservation debate surrounding its potential , and onits eastern margin are the shallow and sheltered waters of Exmouth Gulf Exmouth GulfInlet of the Indian Ocean, Western Australia. Located between North West Cape and the mainland, the gulf is 55 mi (90 km) long and 30 mi (48 km) across the mouth. Fishing, pearling, prawning, and tourism are the main local industries. .Of major significance to archaeological research in this area is theproximity of the edge of the continental shelf to the modern shoreline.At a distance of only 10 km, the western margin of Cape Range peninsulais the nearest point on the Australian continent to the edge of thecontinental shelf. In 1985, excavations in Mandu Mandu Creekrock-shelter, a small limestone cave in the western foothills of CapeRange, yielded archaeological evidence of intermittent human occupationof the coastal margin of Cape Range peninsula, from 25,000 b.p. to atleast 430 b.p., by people exploiting a variety of coastal resourcesincluding fish, crab and at least three species of marine mollusc molluscmembers of the phylum Mollusca, which comprises about 50,000 species. Includes snails, slugs and the aquatic molluscs��oysters, mussels, clams, cockles, arkshells, scallop, abalone, cuttlefish, squid. (Morse1988). This was the first unequivocal Australian evidence for thePleistocene exploitation of marine resources (Jones 1989; Morse 1988).Two stratigraphic stra��tig��ra��phy?n.The study of rock strata, especially the distribution, deposition, and age of sedimentary rocks.strat units, distinguished by colour, texture and contentand separated by a marked disconformity dis��con��form��i��ty?n. pl. dis��con��form��i��ties1. Geology A type of unconformity in which the rock layers are parallel.2. Refusal or failure to conform; nonconformity. , were identified in thisexcavation. The upper late Holocene unit contains the great majority ofarchaeological material. A basal carbonate radiocarbon determination of25,200|+ or -~250 b.p. (SUA-2354) and a date of 20,040|+ or -~440 b.p.|SUA 2614) on baler shell (Melo sp.) bracket the lower unit.Archaeological material, including stone artefacts, marine andterrestrial bone and marine shell, while sparse in the Pleistocene unit,comprised a comparable faunal range to that found in the Holocene unit.There are no archaeologically sterile layers in the deposit at ManduMandu Creek rock-shelter and sediment analysis suggests that there is astrong correlation between the intensity of human use and the rate ofsediment accumulation at this site (cf. Hughes & Lampert 1982). ThePleistocene unit consists of lenses of red to yellowish-red, fine tovery fine quartz-calcarenite sands and coarse silts with abundantcarbonate nodules. All archaeological material in the lower unit isencrusted in a red carbonate cement and there is no evidence forpost-depositional bioturbation bi��o��tur��ba��tion?n.The stirring or mixing of sediment or soil by organisms, especially by burrowing or boring.[German : bio-, bio- + Latin turb . The disconformity between the twostratigraphic units is considered to represent a hiatus in occupation,when use of this rock-shelter ceased as the arid conditions of the lastglacial period intensified, and it was not re-occupied until lateHolocene times. Midden middendungheap. sites on the nearby coast indicate, however, thatpeople had re-occupied the area by at least 7000 years ago (Kendrick& Morse 1982; 1990). The 1989 excavationIn 1989 two further 1-m square pits, Squares C1 and E2, wereexcavated at Mandu Mandu Creek rock-shelter and a similar stratigraphicand archaeological sequence to that outlined above was identified(FIGURE 2; Morse in press a). Baserock in Square C1 is 91 cm below floorsurface, some 10 cm deeper than the original Square C3 excavation. InSquare E2 baserock is 80 cm below the floor surface. As before,archaeological material including stone artefacts, marine shell andbone, and terrestrial bone is present throughout the deposit, becomingincreasingly sparse with depth. The stone industry can broadly beclassified as typical of the Australian core tool and scraper traditionwith the addition of typical late phase tools such as adzes and asignificant decrease in flake size in the Holocene layers (cf. White& O'Connell 1982: 105). To a great extent, the faunalassemblage reflects the changing proximity of the coast. In the lowerPleistocene unit, a time when the sea was retreating between 3-10 kmwest of the site, faunal material is for the most part sparse and themarine faunal assemblage is far less diverse than that found in theHolocene layers. However, in Square C1, in the basal 9 cm of deposit, amarked abundance of archaeological material including over 75 g ofmarine shell, 140 g of bone and some 50 stone artefacts was recovered. A2.7-g fragment of baler shell collected from just above baserock in thesouthwest corner of Square C1 yielded a radiocarbon determination of30,000|+ or -~850 b.p. (Wk-1576). A 9.1-g baler sample from thenorthwest corner at a depth some 6 cm above baserock was determined as34,200|+ or -~1050 b.p. (Wk-1513). X-ray diffraction analysisdemonstrated that the dated samples consisted of primary aragonite aragoniteA carbonate mineral, the stable form of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) at high pressures. It is somewhat harder and has a slightly higher specific gravity than calcite. .However, isotopic analysis indicated that there was a 30% contaminationwith ground-water carbon dioxide carbon dioxide,chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. , leading to the samples appearing to bebetween 950 and 1250 years too old (C. Hendy pers. comm.). Anuncalibrated determination of c. 32,000 b.p. is taken as an approximateage for this occupational horizon.Nine radiocarbon dates have now been obtained from Mandu Mandu Creekrock-shelter. All are conventional dates and, with the exception of onecharcoal sample and the TABULAR DATA OMITTED carbonate sample fromSquare C3 noted above, all have derived from marine shell. The datedsequence from this rock-shelter now spans from c. 32,000 b.p. to atleast 430 b.p., although the site appears not to have been occupiedbetween 20,040 and 5490 years b.p., corresponding with the onset of thearid conditions of the last glacial period. Radiocarbon dates from twoother nearby rock-shelters now indicate that a human presence in thisarea was certainly reestablished by at least 12,000 b.p. and may in facthave continued throughout the last glacial period (Morse in press a; b).The modified shellsTwenty-two small cone (Conus conus/co��nus/ (ko��nus) pl. co��ni ? [L.]1. a cone or cone-shaped structure.2. posterior staphyloma of the myopic eye. sp.) shells and fragments were recoveredfrom the basal occupational horizon in Square C1. The great majority(nearly 75%) were derived from residue excavated from the two westernquadrants. With the exception of one shell, the small size of whichpresumably pre��sum��a��ble?adj.That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. precluded its use, all the Conus sp. material appears to havebeen deliberately modified as beads. Six of the cones are whole shellsthat have had their apex perforated and their internal structure cleanlybroken to form a hollowed-out shell with a round hole in the top. Thediameters of the holes range between 2.5 and 3.7 mm; mean diameter is3.2 mm. The largest of these predominantly intact shells has a maximumlength of 21.1 mm and a maximum diameter of 12.4 mm. Two are fracturedand have their anterior ends broken. After cleaning they appearedslightly calcined and grey suggesting they have briefly come in contactwith fire. One other shell is broken in half length-ways.The two best-preserved cones have a small notch worn into the shelledge at the posterior end of their aperture. In some species of cone anotch occurs naturally in this position. However, inspection of thesenotches under magnification (400x) showed that they had very abradededges. This is consistent with the notch being formed by wear from astring on which the beads could have been threaded. By virtue of ashell's weight, a string inserted in the hole in the apex is mostlikely to emerge from the shell at the posterior end of the aperture,thereby eventually causing a notch to form. Growth lines, visible athigh magnification on the shell is surface, appear to have been cutthrough by the notches. Comparison of notches on the Conus sp. materialwith similarly threaded shell artefacts from north Western Australia,held in ethnographic collections at the Western Australian Museum The Western Australian Museum is the main museum for the state of Western Australia. , showanalogous wear patterns. The other modified cone shells and fragmentsconsist of a section of the spire of each shell. Like the shellsdescribed above, the apex of each shell is perforated and a rounded holehas been formed. The diameter of the hole is generally larger than thatrecorded in the intact shells, ranging between 1.3 and 6.5 mm, thoughthe mean diameter is the same. These shells have been further modifiedand have their last whorl whorln.1. A form that coils or spirals; a curl or swirl.2. A turn of the cochlea or of the ethmoidal crest.3. An area of hair growing in a radial manner.4. removed. Both their posterior and anteriorends have been well rounded and smoothed. The result is a shell ringbetween 2.9 and 9.6 mm long (mean length 6.3 mm) and between 7.2 and12.7 mm in diameter (mean diameter 10.06 mm). Some of the shell ringsare partially broken; measurements are the maximum that could be taken.It is suggested that the beads were made by rubbing the weakest partof the shell, the apex, against an abrasive surface. Once a rough holehad been worn, the internal structure would then be broken, perhapsusing a piece of bone or stick. The edge of the top hole would berounded and the still largely intact shell threaded on a fine string.The shell rings appear to represent a secondary modification followingbreakage of the last whorl, whether accidental or deliberate, duringmodification. It is estimated that if assembled, the strand of at least22 beads would have had a length of 180 mm.All the shells show evident selection for size and genera. Their wornand battered appearance suggests they were probably collected as deadshells in the beach drift where they can often be found in abundance.Comparison of the archaeological shells with modern and fossil shellsshows some important differences. While the apex of some of the naturalshells is perforated, the resulting hole is irregular and has a veryfine, often jagged edge. In addition, in all specimens examined, theinternal structure of the natural shells is more or less intact.Species identification of the cones from this site is problematicalas they have very worn and etched surfaces. They are provisionallyidentified as Conus dorreensis (G.W. Kendrick pers. comm.), a specieswhich typically lives in shallow waters on reef platforms, and in sandunder rocks, environments consistent with the predominantly reefedshoreline of the western coast of the Cape Range peninsula. Cone shells,with over 300 known species, belong to one of the most diverse shellfamilies in Australian waters (Wells & Bryce 1985). Though edible,many are venomous venomoussecreting poison; poisonous. and they are not generally considered to be a dietaryspecies. In view of the condition and very small size of the cone shellsdescribed here, it is considered most unlikely that they were collectedfor human consumption.Further excavation to baserock of squares immediately adjacent toSquare C1 may yield additional cone shell material. Ochre and fragmentsof pearl shell (Pinctada spp.) and scaphopod shell (family Dentaliidae),materials well documented in Australia as being used to make decorativeobjects (Akerman in press), are present in later Pleistocene layers ofthis excavation. In addition, three other fragments of cone shell, oneof which may be deliberately modified, were recovered from spits 10 and11 in Square E2. While no direct date is available from this depth theirestimated age is c. 21,000 years b.p. At this time Mandu Mandu Creekrock-shelter would have been located some 8-10 km from the shore and,while equivocal, this evidence may point to a continuing tradition ofsite use.DiscussionThe decorative and ceremonial use of ornaments, including shellbeads, was well established in Australia by mid-late Holocene times(Pretty 1977; Macintosh 1971). While no record has been found describingthe use of cone shells, many other shell species were used in themanufacture of decorative material (Akerman in press). Pleistoceneevidence, on the other hand, is sparse. The Devil's Lair bonebeads, ranging in age from 12,000 to 19,000 b.p. (Dortch 1984), and theochred burial Lake Mungo III (Bowler & Thorne 1976) dated some30,000 b.p., have provided the best evidence to date for the antiquityof Aboriginal decorative or ceremonial traditions. 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