Paleolithic Personal Ornaments: A Review of the Evidence
WEI Yi, Francesco d’ERRICO,GAO Xing
2016, 35(01):
132-148.
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Personal ornaments are playing a growing role in Paleolithic Archaeology. Considered for long as a minor source of information, they have attracted considerable attention in the last two decades. This is due to the fact that they are now considered by most researchers as a convincing hallmark of modern behavior and the emergence of cultures comparable to ours, to discoveries demonstrating that they were produced and worn much earlier than previously thought, and to theoretical and methodological developments proving that they can provide hitherto underestimated clues to document the emergence, organization, and spread of modern human cultures. Many archaeologists consider that the use of personal ornaments reflects modern cognition, abstract thinking, and the use of complex communication systems. Scholars conducting research on prehistoric art see personal ornaments, together with rock art, carvings and other types of artifacts, as a form of information technology instrumental for sharing, reinforcing and transmitting symbolic codes. Thousands of beads and pendants have been found at Paleolithic sites from Africa and Eurasia. In spite of the critical information provided this category of the material culture, which cannot be given by other artifacts such as lithic or bone tools, the in-depth study of Paleolithic ornaments is still at an early stage in China. This is due to the relative shortage of discoveries and loss of key collections during WWII. However, key recent discoveries, and the acquisition of up to date research facilities make now cutting edge research in this field possible and promising. Ornaments consist of 94 circular ostrich eggshell beads, found at Shuidonggou, Ningxia Province, at the localities 1, 2, 7 and 8 of this site. The layers from which the beads come are dated to 31 ka-25 ka cal BP. The site of Xiaogushan, Liaoning Province yielded 4 perforated teeth and 1 bone “decorated disc”, discovered in layers dated from 60 ka to 20 ka BP. The most abundant collection of personal ornaments was found during the excavation conducted by Pei, at Zhoukoudian Upper Cave, Beijing. This collection includes 141 beads, among which 1 perforated pebble, 7 stone beads, 125 perforated mammal teeth, 1 perforated supra-orbital bone of fish, 3 perforated shells and 4 bone tubes. The age of the layers that have yielded these objects range from (29.1±0.52) ka BP to (10.47±3.6) ka BP by 14C dating. An equally rich collection, comprising 85 personal ornaments, was found at the site of Shizitan, Shanxi Province. The 49 clam shells, 35 ostrich eggshells and 1 bone tube found at this site are dated from cal. 24950 BP to 11350 BP. Hutouliang site, Hebei Province, dated to c. 11 ka BP has yielded 3 perforated shells, 8 ostrich eggshell beads, 1 stone bead, and 1 bone bead. In addition, one perforated stone bead made of graphite from Shiyu site, Shanxi Province, and one perforated stone bead from Xiaonanhai site, Henan Province, with an age of 28ka BP and 24 ka-11 ka BP respectively, should also be mentioned. Ornaments have been regarded for long as art items witnessing the aesthetic inclinations of their makers and users. Modern research focuses instead on the reconstruction of manufacture processes, length of use, and evaluation of results in terms of cognition, social complexity, and identification of cultural boundaries at regional scale. Although still limited in number when one considers the size of the country, discoveries of personal ornaments from well excavated and dated Paleolithic Chinese sites are increasing gradually. This paper provides an overview of current evidence on the origin of personal ornaments and recent progresses of personal ornament research. It summarizes what we do know, and don’t know on the earliest beads, the possible mechanisms that stimulated their emergence in our lineage, the theories underlying the interpretation of personal ornaments, and the methods allowing their analysis. It proposes the paths that Chinese archaeology may follow to fruitfully explore its rich and rapidly growing archaeological potential in this field of study.
