title: An integrated approach to the taxonomic identification of prehistoric shell ornaments.
abstract: Shell beads appear to have been one of the earliest examples of personal adornments. Marine shells identified far from the shore evidence long-distance transport and imply networks of exchange and negotiation. However, worked beads lose taxonomic clues to identification, and this may be compounded by taphonomic alteration. Consequently, the significance of this key early artefact may be underestimated. We report the use of bulk amino acid composition of the stable intra-crystalline proteins preserved in shell biominerals and the application of pattern recognition methods to a large dataset (777 samples) to demonstrate that taxonomic identification can be achieved at genus level. Amino acid analyses are fast (<2 hours per sample) and micro-destructive (sample size <2 mg). Their integration with non-destructive techniques provides a valuable and affordable tool, which can be used by archaeologists and museum curators to gain insight into early exploitation of natural resources by humans. Here we combine amino acid analyses, macro- and microstructural observations (by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy) and Raman spectroscopy to try to identify the raw material used for beads discovered at the Early Bronze Age site of Great Cornard (UK). Our results show that at least two shell taxa were used and we hypothesise that these were sourced locally.
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Demarchi
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Lima Ponzoni
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Almeida Rocha Ponzoni
authors.affiliation: National Museums Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sheridan
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Kirsty
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Penkman
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of York, York, United Kingdom; York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis (YCCSA), University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hancock
authors.affiliation: Departments of Mathematics and Chemistry, University of York, York, United Kingdom; York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis (YCCSA), University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D060105:Animal Shells / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification; D005580:Fossils; D006801:Humans; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D011506:Proteins