We report the discovery and present a detailed analysis of a freshwater bivalve from Shuidonggou Locality 2, layer CL3. This layer is located c. 40 cm below layer CL2, which has yielded numerous ostrich eggshell beads. The shell is identified as the valve of a Corbicula fluminea. Data on the occurrence of this species in the Shuidonggou region during Marine Isotope Stage 3 and taphonomic analysis, conducted in the framework of this study, of a modern biocoenosis and thanatocoenosis suggest that the archeological specimen was collected at one of the numerous fossil or sub-fossil outcrops where valves of this species were available at the time of occupation of level CL3. Experimental grinding and microscopic analysis of modern shells of the same species indicate that the Shuidonggou shell was most probably ground on coarse sandstone to open a hole on its umbo, attach a thread, and use the valve as a personal ornament. Experimental engraving of freshwater shells and microscopic analysis identify an incision crossing the archaeological valve outer surface as possible deliberate engraving. Reappraisal of the site chronology in the light of available radiocarbon evidence suggests an age of at least 34–33 cal kyr BP for layer CL3. Such estimate makes the C. fluminea recovered from CL3 one of the earliest instances of personal ornamentation and the earliest example of a shell bead from China.
Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;Department of Earth Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5199 - PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France;Evolutionary Studies Institute and DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa;Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5199 - PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France;Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Recommended Citation:
Yi Wei,Francesco d’Errico,Marian Vanhaeren,et al. An Early Instance of Upper Palaeolithic Personal Ornamentation from China: The Freshwater Shell Bead from Shuidonggou 2[J]. PLOS ONE,2016-01-01,11(5)