Catherine Perlès - Ornaments and Other Ambiguous Artifacts from Franchthi: Volume 1, The Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic

Ornaments and Other Ambiguous Artifacts from Franchthi

Excavations at Franchthi Cave, Greece

FASCICLE 15

Ornaments and Other Ambiguous Artifacts from Franchthi

VOLUME I

The Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic

CATHERINE PERLS

With an Appendix by Andr C. Colonese

INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS

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Indiana University Press

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2018 by Catherine Perls

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No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.

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ISBN 978-0-253-03184-6 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-253-03185-3 (web PDF)

ISBN 978-0-253-03488-5 (print PDF)

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CONTENTS

TABLES

In the Text

In the Appendices

FIGURES

In the Text

In the Appendices

PLATES

PROLOGUE

This book is devoted to the study of small artifacts that archaeologists commonly label ornaments. In the case of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic assemblages from Franchthi, this interpretation is supported by the discovery of similar perforated shells, belonging to the same species, in several Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic burials elsewhere in Europe. Perforated shells were strung together as bracelets and necklaces, and adorned various garments such as cloaks, jackets, headdresses and loincloths.

Palaeolithic and Mesolithic human burials do not all yield ornaments, but their presence in burials does not come as a surprise: perforated shells are the earliest ornaments known in Prehistory and were in use long before the Upper Palaeolithic. This last period witnessed an extraordinary increase in the variety, frequency and number of ornaments, testifying to both the taste for personal adornment of Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers and the importance of symbolic systems of communication. In this context, it seems logical that some at least of the deceased would have been buried with their personal ornaments or embroidered garments.