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Shell beads are well established in the archaeological record of sub-Saharan Africa and appear as early as 75,000 BP; however, most research has focused on ostrich eggshell (OES) and various marine mollusc species. Beads made from various land snails shells (LSS), frequently described as Achatina, also appear to be widespread. Yet tracking their ap...
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... In East Africa, studies record the exploitation of large Achatinidae ("giant African land snails") by humans as food, tools, or sources of shell material from the Pleistocene, throughout the Holocene, and into the present (e.g. Shipton et al. 2016, Walz 2017, Miller et al. 2018, Faulkner et al. 2019. Indeed, shell carbonates from the achatinids Achatina, Burtoa, and Limicolaria have proven useful for the radiocarbon dating of archaeological deposits in the region (e.g. ...
... Rather than an inevitable consequence of advanced cognition, it constitutes an ecology-bound invention (Mayer et al. 2020) which can be both culturally transmitted and lost, as it has been today among the Hadza. Nor is it inevitable that beads should be manufactured from enduring media like eggshell, bone (Table 3.1) or marine shell (e.g., Miller et al. 2018); the Hadza traditionally produced beads from organic media including twigs, tubers and acacia pods (Woodburn 1970) while the Mbuti use seeds (Tanno 1981). Further, bead-use is dependent on thread, traditionally made by chewing/rolling the ligament/sinew of a large animal among the Hadza (Marlowe 2010, 85) and G//ana (Hitchcock 2012) or weaving plant fibre as among the Mbuti (Tanno 1981). ...
Many have interpreted symbolic material culture in the deep past as evidencing the origins sophisticated, modern cognition. Scholars from across the behavioural and cognitive sciences, including linguists, psychologists, philosophers, neuroscientists, primatologists, archaeologists and paleoanthropologists have used such artefacts to assess the capacities of extinct human species, and to set benchmarks, milestones or otherwise chart the course of human cognitive evolution. To better calibrate our expectations, the present paper instead explores the material culture of three contemporary African forager groups. Results show that, while these groups are unequivocally behaviourally modern, they would leave scant long-lasting evidence of symbolic behaviour. Artefact-sets are typically small, perhaps as consequence of residential mobility. When excluding traded materials, few artefacts have components with moderate-strong taphonomic signatures. Present analyses show that artefact function influences preservation probability, such that utilitarian tools for the processing of materials and the preparation of food are disproportionately likely to contain archaeologically traceable components. There are substantial differences in material-use between populations, which create important population-level variation preservation probability independent of cognitive differences. I discuss the factors — cultural, ecological and practical — that influence material choice. In so doing, I highlight the difficulties of using past material culture as an evolutionary or cognitive yardstick.
... The original surface of all beads is quite altered, sometimes revealing the structure of the marine shell ( Fig. 8, nos. 1 and 3). Given these attributes, we can be sure that none were made of ostrich eggshells or a land snail (Achatina) shell (Miller et al., 2018). The original polish is sometimes partially present (Fig. 8,no. ...
This article reports on new archaeological data obtained in 2018 from the coastal region of the Kongo Central province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The area’s ancient history is virtually unknown but is potentially of paramount importance in the context of the development of early village communities in Central Africa. The article focuses on the Muanda 6 site, dated to ⁓ 1400 BP, and offers a multidisciplinary analysis of the finds uncovered there. The site’s pottery is associated with shell and stone beads, ironworking remains, a stone quern, and biological remains testifying to a mixed subsistence system that took advantage of the region’s ecological diversity. The Early Iron Age occupants of Muanda 6 practiced ocean and mangrove fishing, gathered beach and mangrove gastropods and bivalves, hunted, and exploited oil palms. The article also discusses the Muanda 13 site, which is more recent (⁓ 1100 BP), and the results of the profile sampling at the Katala village. Both Muanda 6 and Muanda 13 yielded different ceramic types. Other pottery styles, surface collected between the Congo River and the Angolan province of Cabinda and probably of more recent date, are briefly described. The results provide new perspectives about the Iron Age in the DRC, providing further evidence of the cultural diversity in the Lower Congo region and an outline of the cultural sequence along the Atlantic Ocean coast.
Résumé
Cet article rend compte de nouvelles données archéologiques obtenues en 2018 dans la région côtière de la Province du Kongo-Central en République démocratique du Congo. L’histoire ancienne de cette région est pratiquement inconnue, mais elle est potentiellement d'une importance capitale dans le contexte de l'installation des premiers villages en Afrique centrale. Les travaux se concentrent sur le site de Muanda 6, daté vers 1400 BP, dont les trouvailles sont étudiées dans une perspective multidisciplinaire. La poterie de ce site est associée à des perles de coquillages et de pierre, à des traces de travail du fer, et à une meule en pierre ainsi qu'à des restes biologiques témoignant d'un système de subsistance mixte reposant sur divers écotones. Les occupants de l’Age du Fer Ancien de Muanda 6 pratiquaient la pêche en mer et dans la mangrove, la collecte de gastéropodes et de bivalves sur la plage et dans la mangrove, la chasse et l'exploitation des palmiers à huile. Le site plus récent de Muanda 13 (vers 1100 BP), ainsi qu’une collecte stratigraphique dans la berge du village de Katala, ont permis de découvrir un autre type de céramique. L’article décrit un dernier style de poterie probablement plus récent et découvert en surface entre le fleuve Congo et la frontière de la province angolaise de Cabinda. Les résultats présentés ici offrent de nouvelles perspectives à l’Age du Fer sur la diversité culturelle dans la région du Bas-Congo et propose l’esquisse d’une séquence culturelle au long de la côte de l’Océan Atlantique.
... Shell disc beads (SDB) are found in the archaeological record from across the globe since at least 60 kya through to recent times (e.g. Hartzell 1991;Allen et al. 1997;Mellars 2006;Bouzouggar et al. 2007;Texier et al. 2010;Villa et al. 2012;Balme and O'Connor 2017;Miller et al. 2018;Medchill et al. 2020;Gamble 2020;Spinapolice et al. 2022;Miller and Wang 2022;Kozuch 2022;Turgeon 2022). In southern Africa, shell beads are often discussed in the context of the region's mobile hunter-gatherer communities (e.g. ...
... Hall and Smith (2000) speculated that this could indicate a difference in the value between beads manufactured from ostrich eggshell and Achatina, with the former being more highly valued. In their comparative study of SDB assemblages, Ward and Maggs (1988) identified several cases of misidentification of shell type in earlier studies and emphasised the need for greater accuracy in identifying SDB manufactured from ostrich eggshell, Achatinidae and Unionidae (Miller et al. 2018). The use of these shell types to make beads is therefore likely underrepresented in the literature. ...
The K2-Mapungubwe settlement complex is widely regarded as the centre for the development of class-based society out of earlier ranked communities between c. AD 900 and AD 1300 in northern South Africa, southern Zimbabwe, and easter Botswana. Beads made from ostrich eggs, the shells of Achatinidae snails, and freshwater bivalves formed an important partof the K2-Mapungubwe economy. Although thousands of shell beads have been excavated at the K2-Mapungubwe complex,this assemblage has never been analysed or even quantified in any meaningful manner. As such, only rough estimates of thedistribution, use, and meaning of shell beads at these important sites were done. This article represents the first focussed research effort on this assemblage. The results demonstrate distinct spatial and chronological changes in the shell bead assemblage. Achatina beads are more common earlier in earlier phases, but after AD 1220, ostrich eggshell beads dominate. This could indicate access to new sources of raw materials. Our analysis took into account the spatial and social contexts of beads. This indicated that shell bead assemblage from the higher-status royal living areas remained morphologically constant over time, with a clear preference for smaller-sized beads. In contrast, beads from the lower-status areas could be grouped into distinct clusters of larger
nd smaller beads. The grouping of smaller bead on lower-status areas closely resembles elite assemblages. Smaller beads however become proportionally rarer outside elite areas over time. This may reflect changes in elite control and preferential access to shell beads. These results demonstrate how the use and manufacture of shell beads intersected with the socio-political changes that characterise the period. It also highlights the need for careful consideration of shell beads as a significant component of the political economy in the southern African Iron Age.
... Hall and Smith (2000) speculated that this could indicate a difference in the value between beads manufactured from ostrich eggshell and Achatina, with the former being more highly valued. In their comparative study of SDB assemblages, Ward and Maggs (1988) identi ed several cases of misidenti cation of shell type in earlier studies and emphasized the need for greater accuracy in identifying SDB manufactured from ostrich eggshell, Achatinidae, and Unionidae (Miller et al. 2018). The use of these shell types to make beads are therefore likely underrepresented in the literature. ...
The K2-Mapungubwe settlement complex is widely regarded as the centre for the development of class-based society out of earlier ranked communities between c. AD 900 – AD 1300 in northern south Africa, southern Zimbabwe and eastern Botswana. Beads made from ostrich eggs, and the shells of Achatinidae snails, and freshwater bivalves, formed an important part of the K2-Mapungubwe economy. Although thousands of shell beads have been excavated at the K2-Mapugubwe complex, this assemblage have never been analysed or even quantified in any meaningful manner. As such, only rough estimates of the distribution, use and meaning of shell beads at these important sites. This article represents the first focussed research effort on this assemblage. The results demonstrate distinct spatial and chronological changes in the shell bead assemblage were discerned. Chronologically, Achatina beads are more common earlier in earlier phases but after AD 1220, ostrich eggshell beads dominate all assemblages. This could indicate access to new sources of raw materials. Morphology of beads assemblages are also linked to distinct social scales of consumption. The shell bead assemblage from higher status areas remained constant over time, with a clear preference for smaller sized beads. In contrast, beads from the lower status areas could be grouped into distinct clusters of larger and smaller beads. The grouping of smaller bead on lower status areas closely resemble elite assemblages. Smaller beads however become proportionally rarer outside elite areas over time. This may reflect changes in elite control and preferential access to shell beads. These results demonstrate how the use and manufacture of shell beads intersected with the socio-political changes that characterise the period. It also highlights the need for careful consideration of shell beads as a significant component of the political economy in the southern African Iron Age.
... The giant African snail of the Achatina achatina species is abundant in tropical West Africa. Their strong shell and large size, which can measure up to 30 cm in length (Figure 2), make them suitable for direct working (Miller et al. 2018). The richness of snail shells in calcium carbonate renders them one of the constituent factors in the stability and viscosity of glass. ...
... While Ostrich shell of both methods have been identified in archaeological contexts in Sub-Saharan Africa, Miller et al. (2021, 4, 27) have argued that the same two pathway methods are associated with snail shell manufacturing and that the first method is more efficient and allows mass-production. Miller et al. (2018Miller et al. ( , 2021 provided guidelines on how to identify the manufacturing of ostrich eggshell and snail shell from archaeological assemblages in Africa. Be it ostrich, snail, or cowry shell, the production of shell bead is delicate, intriguing, and requires a lot of time. ...
Beads of all kinds are essential objects of prestige, power, trade, and aesthetics in West Africa across time periods. This article discusses the ecologies of beads in medieval and postmedieval west Africa by interrogating the complex relationships between the environment and the craftspeople. With a focus on archaeological records from across the region, we highlight the various types of beads, their manufacturing techniques, and their sources and acquisition of raw materials. We argue that beads are not only objects of personal adornment encoded in meaning and symbolism or exotica but also exemplify complex human engagement with the natural environment – from the geological components (silicious materials and stones), marine resources (Oyster and Cowry), gastropod mollusk (land snail) to reptiles (turtles and birds – Ostrich). Arnold’s ‘ecological approach to craft production’ and Ingold’s notion of ‘making as a correspondence' allow us to discuss the ‘process of making’ beads and the entanglement of nature and culture in medieval and postmedieval West Africa.
... At the Lake Eyasi Basin, mollusc remains have been given a cameo role in the work of previous researchers. Even in those fewer instances, mollusc remains were often considered as part of either dietary systems or for their utilitarian functions, or as proxies for chronological settings through radiocarbon dating, electron spin resonance (ESR) dating, and palaeoenvironment reconstructions (Mehlman 1989, Bushozi et al. 2020. Mehlman (1989) noted that the mollusc shells at Mumba rock shelter were probably utilised as spoons rather than as food. ...
... Even in those fewer instances, mollusc remains were often considered as part of either dietary systems or for their utilitarian functions, or as proxies for chronological settings through radiocarbon dating, electron spin resonance (ESR) dating, and palaeoenvironment reconstructions (Mehlman 1989, Bushozi et al. 2020. Mehlman (1989) noted that the mollusc shells at Mumba rock shelter were probably utilised as spoons rather than as food. He used ethnographic observations of the site with the Hadza, who use mollusc shells as spoons rather than tools. ...
... However, most studies emphasise the use of molluscs as proxies for reconstruction environments and diets (Walz 2017). Several scholars have reported various Achatina and bivalve species (sp.) at Mumba rock shelter (Mehlman 1989, Prendergast et al. 2007, 2014, Bushozi et al. 2017, Bushozi 2020. Mehlman (1989) reported the presence of Burtoa nilotica and bivalves which he categorized the latter as Unio (a genus of freshwater bivalves), which this study categorizes as Corbicula (a genus of freshwater bivalves). ...
The study of the Neolithic period in the Lake Eyasi Basin was dominated by attempts to formulate the area’s chronology, mobility, settlement patterns, subsistence, and cultural capabilities of Neolithic people as attested by domesticated animals, pottery, and lithic artefacts. Occasionally, studies on molluscs were mentioned, but rarely described in detail. Neolithic sites across the Lake Eyasi Basin have yielded remains of both terrestrial (gastropods) and freshwater mollusc shells (mussels). The abundance of mollusc shell remains in the archaeological records of the Lake Eyasi Basin have played a great role in chronological settings, mobility and community integrations, studies of settlement patterns, and other analyses. Mollusc remains have often been widely interpreted as a food supplement to other reliable food resources such as meat, vegetables and fish. Archaeological excavations and detailed analysis of the shells from Mumba rock shelter, Jangwani 3 and Laghangasimjega 2 have shown that molluscs played different roles. They were effectively used in tool manufacturing, as practical implements for handling objects, as scraping tools, as harpoons for fishing weapons, and sometimes for symbolism and in rituals. Terrestrial and freshwater molluscs coexisted in the Lake Eyasi Basin and were utilised equally by the Neolithic people during the Mid-Holocene period. Keywords: Mollusc shells; Neolithic; Lake Eyasi Basin; Northern Tanzania
... The problem of land snail disc beads LSS beads are common elements at Holocene archeological sites but are rarely studied in detail. Miller et al. (2018) were the first to systematically compile a list of sites with LSS beads and attempt to directly date their occurrence. They found that "shell beads," many likely LSS, are described from deposits at numerous sites, but that early literature rarely specifies the type of material. ...
... The archeological literature frequently describes terrestrial snail remains from central Africa, including beads, as derived from Achatina (Clark 1956;Phillipson 1976). However, Miller et al. (2018) caution that modern distributions of land snails may be different from past distributions, citing complete shells from the archeological site of Magubike in southern Tanzania that are a closer match to Burtoa nilotica. Furthermore, there have been a number of recent taxonomic revisions within Achatinini, and several genera contain multiple species (Mead 2004;Van Bruggen 2008). ...
... Raw material and production stage were identified using a combination of visual inspection and low-powered microscopy. Using the protocols in Miller et al. (2018), experimental samples of shells were compared to the archeological beads to identify shell microstructures. Those with the alternating cross-lamellar layers were categorized as LSS. ...
Shell disc beads are important archeological indicators of social communication and exchange networks. There has been substantial research on ostrich eggshell (OES) beads, but little is known about the manufacture or chronology of similar beads from land snail shells (LSS). LSS beads are associated with Holocene hunter-gatherers in Africa, though direct dates are limited to the Iron Age, and there are no images or descriptions of the manufacturing sequence. Here, we combine experimental and archeological data to resolve the chronology, operational chains, and material properties of LSS bead manufacture. We then recommend and apply a modified OES production sequence to three Later Stone Age assemblages from the Kasitu Valley of northern Malawi (Hora 1, Mazinga 1, and Kadawonda 1). At these sites, LSS shows an unexpectedly high proportion of Pathway 2 manufacture (disc shaping prior to perforation), in direct contrast with known OES bead manufacture. Application of red color occurred at all stages of manufacture, albeit inconsistently. Production of finished beads involved substantial removal of material from preforms to create the final product. Finally, we report the earliest evidence for LSS bead manufacture with two directly dated preforms (~ 9500 cal BP), showing that the origins of LSS beadmaking do precede the Iron Age.
... The Mumba rock-shelter is one of the few sites in East Africa with well preserved and precisely dated archaeological assemblages (Mehlman 1989, Prendergast et al. 2007, Gliganic et al. 2012. The oldest symbolic artefacts of these finds include beaded ornaments and ochre, ranging from late Middle Stone Age (MSA) in Bed V to Late Stone Age (LSA), and Neolithic culture in the upper levels (Mehlman 1989, MacBrearty and Brooks 2000, Prendergast et al. 2007Miller et al. 2018, Miller andSawchuk 2019). Sediments associated with the oldest objects revealing symbolism appear in Bed V at Mumba, dated through optically simulated luminescence (OSL) between 56,900 ± 4,300 and 49,000 ± 4,300 BP (Gliganic et al. 2012). 1 The abundance of symbol-revealing artefacts at Mumba rock-shelter increases the amount of available evidence indicating the transition of archaeological artefacts from their earlier, primarily functional roles in strictly survival activities such as food processing, to their later contribution to the kinds of material culture that communicate human imagination, creativity and ideology. ...
The archaeological remains found in the Mumba rock-shelter in northern Tanzania – where continuous deposits span from the Middle Stone Age ( MSA ) to the historical period – provide a unique opportunity to study trends in technology and behavioural change of early humans. Developments in symbolic thought may be evident in the production and use of ochre pigments, beads and rock art. At this site, beads and other symbolic artefacts are represented in varying quantities through the late MSA , the Later Stone Age ( LSA ), Neolithic, and post Stone Age cultures. Such beaded ornaments were made from various raw materials including ostrich eggshells, stone pebbles, and arthropod shells. Ancient beading technologies, discovered at Mumba and other MSA sites across the East African region, contribute to clarifying the origin and development of representational cognition in the distant past. These artefacts also reveal components of personal identity and creative expression, whose recorded remains are patchy and infrequently discussed in Sub-Saharan Africa. From a Darwinian perspective, these archaeological finds demonstrate the empirical issue of environmentally selected human responses to local stimuli. They are remnants of the synergistic adaptation that led more generally to the broader technological innovations and behavioural changes occurring through the late Middle Stone Age and later flourishing universally during the Late Stone Age culture.
... During this same period, beads made from land snail shells (LSS) appeared in Iringa for the first time. These were made from the shells of giant terrestrial snails (identified as Burtoa nilotica in Miller et al. 2018), in much the same manner as OES beads. Four of such giant snail shell beads were excavated from IA levels at Magubike, and yielded direct dates ranging from 1732 ± 23 BP (UOC-4739) to 371 ± 23 BP (UOC-4741) (Miller et al. 2018, p.362). ...
The Iringa Region is famous among archaeologists for the Acheulean site of Isimila, and among historians as the stronghold where Chief Mkwawa led the Hehe resistance against German colonial forces. However, our research reveals that Iringa has a rich archaeological record that spans the period from the Stone Age into the recent past. This article summarizes the results of 14 years of research by our team, the Iringa Region Archaeological Project (IRAP). Since 2006, IRAP members have recorded 67 sites, and this only scratches the surface of the archaeological potential in the area. These sites, some of which were recorded in conjunction with local participants, have archaeological component characteristic of the Early, Middle, and Later Stone Age, the Iron Age, and the recent past. We consider the archaeological and historical value of Iringa to be high and hope that this work inspires future research, tourism, and conservation efforts in the area.
