Archaeologists have discovered an ancient tube-shaped bead made of hare bone at the La Prele Mammoth site in Wyoming, the United States. This is the oldest known bead from the western hemisphere.
“The production and use of personal ornaments, most commonly beads, are important indicators of increasing human cultural and social complexity in the Paleolithic, appearing first in the Middle Stone Age of Africa and later in the Early Upper Paleolithic of Eurasia,” said University of Wyoming’s Professor Todd Surovell and colleagues.
“Although beads are not as well documented from early archaeological contexts in the Americas, several examples have been reported from Paleoindian localities indicating that the first migrants to the western hemisphere made and used personal ornamentation, whether to decorate their bodies and/or clothing.”
The archaeologists examined an ancient tube-shaped bead made from a hearth-centered activity area of the La Prele Mammoth site in Converse County, Wyoming, the United States.
“The La Prele Mammoth site is an Early Paleoindian site in Converse County, Wyoming along La Prele Creek near its confluence with the North Platte River,” they said.
“Test excavations in 1987 revealed the association of chipped stone artifacts with the partial remains of a subadult Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi), and later excavations identified a nearby camp area preserving multiple hearth-centered activity areas.”
“The occupation surface was buried by low energy overbank deposits, and based on the average of five radiocarbon dates on bone, the occupation occurred 12,941 years ago.”
The bead is small, approximately 7 mm in length. Its internal diameter averages 1.6 mm, and it has a mean external diameter of 2.9 mm.
“Two deep parallel grooves with U-shaped cross-sections occur on the face of the bead aligned perpendicular to its long axis,” the researchers said.
“Whether these incisions are byproducts of manufacture, skinning,…
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