The strange thing about these beads is that the shells used are the
same species as found at Üçagizli in Turkey dated to about 60k years
later, and very similar ones at Blombos in South Africa (N.
kraussianus) dated 25k years later.

I have speculated on the Blombos and Üçagizli beads that they were
merely local substitutes for Cypraea moneta, that has similar
appearance, with strong and very obvious parietal callosities, but
doesn't appear in those two shell provinces (Med and South Africa).
The money cowry is intimately involved with the development of money
itself.

see: http://www.coconutstudio.com/Oldest%20Shell%20Beads.htm

The two latest bead specimens seem to have been found as a result of
trawling through museum collections for pierced specimens of these
particular shells, following the discoveries at Üçagizli and Blombos.

I am arguing (sorry, discussing) with someone on a Paleoanthropogical
list that it would repay archaeologists to search out C moneta in
early East African, Red Sea, Arabian and Indian archaeological sites
to reveal the bead remains that would show that these northern and
southern finds do, in fact, only represent an imitation of, perhaps,
a very much older tradition based in countries bordering the Indo-
Pacific province.

This seems difficult for paleoanthropogical acceptance, and I am now
trying to demonstrate that Nassarius shells of that particular shape
are not to be found, at all, between the Med and South Africa,
against a quoted list of somewhat similar Nassarius species that do
span this 'gap'.

see: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/palanthsci/message/27166

I don't know a lot about MED or SA province shells, or of Nassarius,
except that they may be a conchologist's equivalent of the
birdwatcher's 'LBBs' - 'little brown birds'.

The archaeologists' paper on the Skhul/Algerian finds suggested that
Mediterranean Nassarius shells of that glacial period had much larger
parietal callosities than current ones, and used this to support
their dating.

So a little on Nassarius' natural history might help -
- Are they scavengers?
- Do they plough through muddy substrates?
- Is it the mantle that makes the callosities as in cowries?
- Why should colder conditions induce larger callosities ?

And has anyone else ideas on the very early use of shell beads as
primitive trade or exchange tokens?

(My web page needs updating now, and any quotes or other plagiarisms
will be given credits in lights)".

regards

Richard Parker
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