An Enduring Shell Artefact Tradition from Timor-Leste: Oliva Bead Production from the Pleistocene to Late Holocene at Jerimalai, Lene Hara, and Matja Kuru 1 and 2

Abstract

In this paper, we describe 485 Oliva spp. shell beads recovered from four archaeological cave sites Jerimalai, Lene Hara, Matja Kuru 1, and Matja Kuru 2, located in Timor-Leste, Island Southeast Asia. While Pleistocene-aged examples of modified marine shells used for personal ornamentation are common in African and Eurasian assemblages, they are exceedingly rare in Southeast Asia, leading some researchers to suggest that these Modern Human societies were less complex than those found further west. In Timor-Leste, the lowest Oliva bead to be recovered was directly dated to ca. 37,000 cal. BP, making it the oldest piece of personal ornamentation in Southeast Asia. Morphometric, taphonomic, use wear, and residue analyses of these beads alongside modern reference specimens, and experimentally made examples indicate that the Oliva shells were modified to be strung consecutively (as in a necklace), and while their mode of production changed remarkably little over the thousands of years they were utilised, an increase in their deposition around 6,000 cal. BP suggests that there was a change in their use coinciding with sea-level stabilisation. These tiny beads demonstrate that early Island Southeast Asian societies produced the same kinds of symbolic material culture we have come to expect from the more intensively studied African/Eurasian region, and that limited sampling and poor recovery methods have biased our perspectives of this region.

Early human symbolic behavior in the Late Pleistocene of Wallacea

“…beads from ∼37 ka cal B.P. (12). In the latter region, there is also evidence for pelagic fishing, probably using fishhooks, by ∼42 ka cal B.P.…”

“…Both in Wallacea and Sahul, rare body adornments recovered from Late Pleistocene contexts are manufactured almost exclusively on marine resources, with marine shells predominating (12,45,48), but also including a perforated shark's tooth pendant (39.5-28 ka) (49). In all cases, used materials were available less than ∼3-5 km from sites.…”

“…Compared with findings elsewhere, however, evidence for cultural complexity in Pleistocene Wallacea-and ISEA and Sahul generally-is markedly sparse (8)(9)(10)(11)(12). Some scholars argue that this pattern is an accurate reflection of past human behaviors and capabilities: According to this view, the region encompassing Pleistocene Sunda, Wallacea, and Sahul was fundamentally out of step with the pace of development in symbol use and advanced social behaviors recorded for the Paleolithic Old World (13,14).…”

“…For instance, the patchy evidence for early symbolic behavior in Sahul is likely due, in part, to inadequate sampling and differential preservation (11). A case can also be made that the colonization of remote Sahul is itself demonstrative of cultural complexity (5,7,15) and that the slender evidence for symbol use at this period reflects the lack of intensive research in the region (6,(10)(11)(12).…”

I remember. Differences between the Neanderthal and modern human mind

“…This happened approx. 40 ky ago, at the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic, when jewellery started to appear in Asia (Kuhn et al 2001;Langley, O'Connor 2016) and Europe (Kuhn et al 2001;White 2003.132-133), as well as in Africa (d 'Errico et al 2012) and a bit later in Australia (Balme, Morse 2006). Most jewellery was also artificially perforated as well (Kuhn et al 2001.7643-7645).…”