Dear Richard and other interested ConchLers,
Here are still some answers:
-Three native Cowries are commonly encountered in the Eastern Mediterranean:
Cypraea spurca, C. lurida and C. pyrum. They occurred also during the
Tyrrhenian stage of the Mediterranean.

-Nassarius gibbosulus occurs commonly in sandy/muddy biotopes along the
whole coast and is certainly not confined to the estuaries of rivers.

-The sealevel during the Tyrrhenian period in the Eastern Mediterranean
stood about 5 m higher than today. In fact the former coastline during the
Tyrrhenian stage was situated about 100-200 m more inland than today.

-Cypraea erosa is represented in the Red Sea by its subspecies nebrites,
which is considered a true species by some students of Cowries.

-Nassariidae occur in large numbers and in a variety of species in the Red
Sea and along the coast of East Africa. See:
Singer, B.S. & Mienis, H.K., 1997. The family Nassariidae of the Red Sea. La
Conchiglia, 29 (282): 16-17 & (283): 36-43.
Dekker, H. & Orlin, Z., Check-list of Red Sea Mollusca. Spirula, 47
(Suppl.): 46 pp. (19 confirmed species)
Mienis, H.K., 1982. Contributions to the knowledge of the malacofauna of
Somalia.I. Polyplacophora and Marine Gastropoda. Informations de la Societe
Belge de Malacologie, 10 (1-4): 57-76.
Spry, J.F., 1961. The sea shells of Dar es Salaam, Part 1 Gastropods, 40 p.
Tanzania Society, Dar es Salaam.
Cernohorsky, W.O., 1984. Systematics of the family Nassariida (Mollusca:
Gastropoda). Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum, 14: 1-356.

Yes, these were definitively my last comments on the subject, unless.....

Best regards,

Henk K. Mienis
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Parker" <[log in to unmask]>
>>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Dear Henk
>
> Many thanks for your extra details about the Natufian shell beads you've
> found in the Levant.
>
> I can understand the cowries - I never found any moneta or annulus while
> diving at Aqaba, but I think I still have some erosa from there and
> Jeddah.
>
> I understood that the Mediterranean had no real cowries at all, until I
> found some C. lurida (I think) on a beach in Majorca.
>
> But what is it about Nassarius gibbosulosus that makes them anything
> special? You've found them, nearly 100,000 years apart in the Levant, and
> so have the people at Blombos (they illustrate a 'recent' Bushman necklace
> made from N. kraussianus in the supporting materials from their site
> report).
>

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