Dear Jan,

Techniques have been described in:
Pfeiffer, L., 1914. Die steinzeitliche Muscheltechnik und ihre Beziehungen
zur Gegenwart. 334 pp. Gustav Fischer, Jena.

A fairly recent article dealing with shell boring techniques has been
published by J.M. Kenoyer in Paleorient at about 1985 (article not at hand
at the moment).

But most of all you should consult the "Proceedings of the 1986 Shell Bead
Conference", published in Research Records # 20 of the Rochester Museum and
Science Center, Rochester, NY in 1989.

Best regards,

Henk K. Mienis

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----- Original Message -----
From: "Janice Light" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2003 1:23 PM
Subject: perforating shells


> Hallo from the UK
> Can you help with the following queries pls?
>
> 1.  How can one drill a small neat hole into shells without cracking the
> peripheral area?  Different technique/tool for thin and thick shells?
>
> 2.  What sort of techniques and 'tools' might ancient cultures have
> used?
>
> I know about natural processes such as predation by gastropod drillers
> and abrasion which occurs to umbones of some bivalves (e.g. Glycymeris)
> and other regions of shells.
>
> All ideas, any literature references etc would be very welcome.
>
> I enjoyed reading all that stuff on edible molluscs!
> Jan
>
> Jan Light
> 88 Peperharow Road
> Godalming, Surrey
> GU7 2PN, UK
> email: [log in to unmask]
> Tel: ++44 (0)1483 417782
> Mob: ++44 (0)7973 322681
>
>