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Shell beads discovery sheds light on Stone Age seafaring
Phys Org ^
| MAY 30, 2023
| by De Gruyter
Posted on 05/30/2023 12:53:40 PM PDT by Red Badger
![](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2023/shell-beads-discovery.jpg)
Location of Kaylu archeological site (a no 1), Jebel (a no 2), and Dam-Dam-Cheshme 1 and 2 (a no 3); view of the rockshelter (b1); location of the two burials (b2 and b3); Caspian Sea view from the site (c); human remains state of preservation (d and e); lithic industry from layer 7 of Kaylu (f) – point (1), lunates (2, 3), end-scraper (4), splinted pieces (5, 6), cores (7, 8). Credit: Open Archaeology (2023). DOI: 10.1515/opar-2022-0289
Stone Age humans may have made extended maritime voyages on the Caspian Sea, according to a new study published in the journal Open Archaeology.
The research analyzed ornamental beads made from the disk-shaped shells of a species of cockle (Didacna sp.) found at the Kaylu rock shelter, a cave-like burial site near the eastern shoreline of the Caspian Sea.
Kaylu was used by Stone Age people over an extended period in the late Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. The transition between these periods is particularly significant in human cultural evolution as it parallels the transition between hunter-gathering cultures and herding and farming cultures, which occurred around 11,500 years ago in the region. Although Kaylu was excavated in the mid-twentieth century, its deposits were poorly described, and it wasn't comprehensively reassessed or directly dated until its rediscovery in 2018.
For this study, lead author Solange Rigaud of the CNRSand University of Bordeaux, France and colleagues used a wide range of tools and techniques to determine how the beads were made and used. Microscopic, morphometric, spectrometric and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses showed a distinct stylistic change between the beads worn by the last hunter-gatherers and the first farmers.
![](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2023/shell-beads-discovery-1.jpg)
Diversity of the personal ornaments documented at Jeitun, Turkmenistan, Early Neolithic. Credit: Open Archaeology (2023). DOI: 10.1515/opar-2022-0289
The analyses also enabled the researchers to compare the beads found at Kaylu with others from various sites across the region. Neolithic beads found in the northern, eastern and western Caspian Sea differed significantly enough from those found in the southern region to indicate that they followed a different route of cultural diffusion.
It is well-established that the southern Caspian Sea area played a major role in the spread of farming technologies and practices, with the movement of farmers and herders along a route through what is now northern Iran. Rigaud's results suggest that cultural traditions also spread around the northern coastline of the Caspian Sea, independently of the inland route.
However, another more exciting explanation is that Stone Age people engaged in maritime voyaging on the Caspian Sea. "Seafaring contacts between these communities may have granted the rapid circulation of specific bead-types—along with people, information, knowledge and symbols—from either side of the Caspian Sea by long maritime voyages," Rigaud said.
More information: Solange Rigaud et al, Exploring Hypotheses on Early Holocene Caspian Seafaring Through Personal Ornaments: A Study of Changing Styles and Symbols in Western Central Asia, Open Archaeology (2023). DOI: 10.1515/opar-2022-0289
Provided by De Gruyter
TOPICS: Education; History; Outdoors; Society
KEYWORDS: ancientnavigation; caspiansea; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; mesolithic; neolithic; obsidiantrade
To: SunkenCiv
PinGGG!.....................
2
posted on
05/30/2023 12:53:55 PM PDT
by
Red Badger
(Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
To: Red Badger
They wore bikinis like Raquel Welch
3
posted on
05/30/2023 1:11:50 PM PDT
by
NWFree
(Sigma male 🤪)
To: NWFree
4
posted on
05/30/2023 1:12:05 PM PDT
by
NWFree
(Sigma male 🤪)
To: NWFree
Yes, but they looked like Helen Thomas....................
5
posted on
05/30/2023 1:17:22 PM PDT
by
Red Badger
(Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
To: Red Badger
The invention of boats allowed humans to move large cargoes easily, along shorelines and rivers, making trade much easier.
6
posted on
05/30/2023 1:38:10 PM PDT
by
SauronOfMordor
(The rot of all principle begins with a single compromise.)
To: Red Badger
7
posted on
05/30/2023 1:43:32 PM PDT
by
BenLurkin
(The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
To: NWFree
Maybe so, but nobody would look as good as she did in them.
8
posted on
05/30/2023 2:39:25 PM PDT
by
GingisK
To: Red Badger; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...
Thanks Red Badger. Nice find.
![](https://i.imgur.com/eRHYOoK.png)
9
posted on
05/30/2023 2:39:33 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
To: NWFree
No. They went bare ass. Who needs bikinis in those days when selling it?
10
posted on
05/30/2023 3:53:32 PM PDT
by
Hiddigeigei
("Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish," said Dionysus - Euripides)
To: Red Badger
Interesting - at this time the Caspian was as much as 40 meters above sea level as the result of Finno Scandanavian glacier meltwater - as opposed to the 25 meters below sea-level presently. A much bigger sea back then.
11
posted on
05/30/2023 3:56:44 PM PDT
by
frithguild
(The warmth and goodness of Gaia is a nuclear reactor in the Earth's core that burns Thorium)
To: Red Badger; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...
Thanks Red Badger!
![](https://i.imgur.com/eRHYOoK.png)
12
posted on
06/05/2023 3:41:12 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
Thanks all. The next 100 "ancient navigation" topics (of 905, including this one), the first 100 are here:
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- Found in Alaska, These Blue Beads Could Be the Oldest Evidence of European Goods in North America [02/08/2021]
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- 'Glass Wreck' reveals traces of East-West maritime trade in southwestern Turkey [08/25/2020]
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- Study Backs 5th-Century Historian's Date for Founding of Armenia [08/15/2020]
- Britain's first ever Viking helmet discovered [08/07/2020]
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- New research shows climate was the key factor impacting the movement of the first farmers across Europe [07/26/2020]
- Vikings had smallpox and may have helped spread the world's deadliest virus [07/25/2020]
13
posted on
06/05/2023 3:46:17 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
To: Red Badger
Oh, I see, the official keyword didn’t get put in there, I should fire that guy. ;^)
14
posted on
06/05/2023 3:47:43 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
To: Red Badger
This is significant, thank you!
15
posted on
06/05/2023 3:54:10 PM PDT
by
Openurmind
(The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
To: NWFree
16
posted on
06/05/2023 4:22:04 PM PDT
by
csvset
(tolerance becomes a crime when attached to evil)
To: SunkenCiv
17
posted on
06/05/2023 11:39:35 PM PDT
by
ComputerGuy
(Heavily-medicated for your protection)
To: ComputerGuy
That’s the real reason I pinged it twice. [blush]
18
posted on
06/06/2023 9:51:09 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
The rest of the "obsidian trade" and "Colin Renfrew" keywords, sorted:
19
posted on
06/06/2023 10:07:54 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
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