The management of symbolic raw materials in the Late Upper Paleolithic of South-Western France: a shell ornaments perspective

Abstract

Personal ornaments manufactured on marine and fossil shell are a significant element of Upper Palaeolithic symbolic material culture, and are often found at considerable distances from Pleistocene coastlines or relevant fossil deposits. Here, we report on a significant collection of shell objects (n=377) from the Upper Magdalenian site of Rochereil (Dordogne, France). Despite the location of the site at more than 200km from the Pleistocene coast, the majority of the shells recovered here are unmodified, suggesting that transport and accumulation of shell raw material was an important component in the production of symbolic technologies some 16 15,000 years ago. A detailed comparative and microscopic reanalysis of this assemblage explores which species were selected, examines technological and taphonomic modification of the material, and compares this collection with the use of similar shell ornaments in the wider Magdalenian world.