Variability in Ostrich Eggshell Beads from the Middle and Later Stone Age of Africa

• Author / Creator

  Miller, Jennifer M.

• Ostrich eggshell (OES) beads are the first kind of ornaments in human history to be mass-produced, and they exhibit variations that simulate cultural boundaries. Previous research into the stylistic variation of OES beads identified the importance of bead diameter in assemblages from southern Africa over the last 5000 years. Specifically, hunter-gatherer beads have small diameters, while larger beads appear only in conjunction with the first herding communities. This observation led to the general conclusion that OES bead size was a cultural marker that allows us to distinguish between hunting and herding sites, in absence of other forms of evidence.This dissertation builds upon the previous research to explore whether OES bead variation can reveal social boundaries in the Middle and Later Stone Age. Using principles of cultural transmission through social networks, I examine 2570 OES artifacts from five countries, searching for regional or temporal stylistic trends. This work expands this time depth of OES bead diameter research to 0-50 thousand years ago (kya), and includes data from sites around southern and eastern Africa. Results reveal that the previous understanding of bead size, and its link to the first herders in southern Africa, was incomplete. The initially negative correlation between time and size from 0-2500 years turns into a positive relationship from 2500-50,000 years ago, a result that contradicts the previously held belief that bead size alone can distinguish hunter-gatherer from herder sites. The oldest southern African diameters (40-50 kya) are actually comparable in size to the younger herder beads (~2 kya). Comparing the eastern and southern data shows regional differences in bead size. The sizes of southern beads shift considerably through time, while the eastern sizes stay consistent over the entire 50,000-year history. The most surprising result is that the oldest beads (40-50 kya) from both eastern and southern Africa overlap in diameter, before the southern African beads begin to reduce in size from 40 to 2.5 kya. This similarity in size opposes the Isolation By Distance model of stylistic similarity, and may indicate a long distance trade network that connected eastern and southern Africa during the Middle Stone Age.This dissertation also documents two previously unknown stylistic variables, and a distinctive type of recycled OES ornament. The first variable (Outer Rim Donut Index 3) appears to result from a preform shaping technique, and is found preferentially in southern Africa. The second trait (pinching) is found only on finished beads, never preforms, and appears to be the result of a specific (but currently unidentified) stringing pattern. Future work should review ethnographic literature and conduct experimental replication to examine the importance of these traits further. I also documented a small number of OES preforms that have engravings on the cuticle surface. These specimens appear to be fragments of OES containers that were repurposed to make beads, and may be the first evidence for recycling in human history.OES beads and other decorative handicrafts are more than mere ephemera; they can be used to examine social relationships in the past. They are not only physical evidence of ancient technology, but they can also afford a glimpse into the minds of Palaeolithic people. The emergence of beads in the Palaeolithic is a tangible record of the increasing complexity of social interactions, and rising importance of symbolic communication, which are core issues in the study of human evolution.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Ostrich eggshell
  • beads
  • palaeolithic
  • southern Africa
  • eastern Africa
  • bead diameter

• Graduation date

  Spring 2019

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-mkns-4941

• License

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