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'Palaeoshellomics’ reveals the use of freshwater mother-of-pearl in prehistory

The extensive use of mollusc shell as a versatile raw material is testament to its importance in prehistoric times. The consistent choice of certain species for different purposes, including the making of ornaments, is a direct representation of how humans viewed and exploited their environment. The...

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Autores principales: Sakalauskaite, Jorune, Andersen, Søren H, Biagi, Paolo, Borrello, Maria A, Cocquerez, Théophile, Colonese, André Carlo, Dal Bello, Federica, Girod, Alberto, Heumüller, Marion, Koon, Hannah, Mandili, Giorgia, Medana, Claudio, Penkman, Kirsty EH, Plasseraud, Laurent, Schlichtherle, Helmut, Taylor, Sheila, Tokarski, Caroline, Thomas, Jérôme, Wilson, Julie, Marin, Frédéric, Demarchi, Beatrice
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6542584/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31060688
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.45644
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author Sakalauskaite, Jorune
Andersen, Søren H
Biagi, Paolo
Borrello, Maria A
Cocquerez, Théophile
Colonese, André Carlo
Dal Bello, Federica
Girod, Alberto
Heumüller, Marion
Koon, Hannah
Mandili, Giorgia
Medana, Claudio
Penkman, Kirsty EH
Plasseraud, Laurent
Schlichtherle, Helmut
Taylor, Sheila
Tokarski, Caroline
Thomas, Jérôme
Wilson, Julie
Marin, Frédéric
Demarchi, Beatrice
author_facet Sakalauskaite, Jorune
Andersen, Søren H
Biagi, Paolo
Borrello, Maria A
Cocquerez, Théophile
Colonese, André Carlo
Dal Bello, Federica
Girod, Alberto
Heumüller, Marion
Koon, Hannah
Mandili, Giorgia
Medana, Claudio
Penkman, Kirsty EH
Plasseraud, Laurent
Schlichtherle, Helmut
Taylor, Sheila
Tokarski, Caroline
Thomas, Jérôme
Wilson, Julie
Marin, Frédéric
Demarchi, Beatrice
author_sort Sakalauskaite, Jorune
collection PubMed
description The extensive use of mollusc shell as a versatile raw material is testament to its importance in prehistoric times. The consistent choice of certain species for different purposes, including the making of ornaments, is a direct representation of how humans viewed and exploited their environment. The necessary taxonomic information, however, is often impossible to obtain from objects that are small, heavily worked or degraded. Here we propose a novel biogeochemical approach to track the biological origin of prehistoric mollusc shell. We conducted an in-depth study of archaeological ornaments using microstructural, geochemical and biomolecular analyses, including ‘palaeoshellomics’, the first application of palaeoproteomics to mollusc shells (and indeed to any invertebrate calcified tissue). We reveal the consistent use of locally-sourced freshwater mother-of-pearl for the standardized manufacture of ‘double-buttons’. This craft is found throughout Europe between 4200–3800 BCE, highlighting the ornament-makers’ profound knowledge of the biogeosphere and the existence of cross-cultural traditions.
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spelling pubmed-65425842019-06-12 'Palaeoshellomics’ reveals the use of freshwater mother-of-pearl in prehistory Sakalauskaite, Jorune Andersen, Søren H Biagi, Paolo Borrello, Maria A Cocquerez, Théophile Colonese, André Carlo Dal Bello, Federica Girod, Alberto Heumüller, Marion Koon, Hannah Mandili, Giorgia Medana, Claudio Penkman, Kirsty EH Plasseraud, Laurent Schlichtherle, Helmut Taylor, Sheila Tokarski, Caroline Thomas, Jérôme Wilson, Julie Marin, Frédéric Demarchi, Beatrice eLife Biochemistry and Chemical Biology The extensive use of mollusc shell as a versatile raw material is testament to its importance in prehistoric times. The consistent choice of certain species for different purposes, including the making of ornaments, is a direct representation of how humans viewed and exploited their environment. The necessary taxonomic information, however, is often impossible to obtain from objects that are small, heavily worked or degraded. Here we propose a novel biogeochemical approach to track the biological origin of prehistoric mollusc shell. We conducted an in-depth study of archaeological ornaments using microstructural, geochemical and biomolecular analyses, including ‘palaeoshellomics’, the first application of palaeoproteomics to mollusc shells (and indeed to any invertebrate calcified tissue). We reveal the consistent use of locally-sourced freshwater mother-of-pearl for the standardized manufacture of ‘double-buttons’. This craft is found throughout Europe between 4200–3800 BCE, highlighting the ornament-makers’ profound knowledge of the biogeosphere and the existence of cross-cultural traditions. eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2019-05-07 /pmc/articles/PMC6542584/ /pubmed/31060688 http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.45644 Text en © 2019, Sakalauskaite et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Sakalauskaite, Jorune
Andersen, Søren H
Biagi, Paolo
Borrello, Maria A
Cocquerez, Théophile
Colonese, André Carlo
Dal Bello, Federica
Girod, Alberto
Heumüller, Marion
Koon, Hannah
Mandili, Giorgia
Medana, Claudio
Penkman, Kirsty EH
Plasseraud, Laurent
Schlichtherle, Helmut
Taylor, Sheila
Tokarski, Caroline
Thomas, Jérôme
Wilson, Julie
Marin, Frédéric
Demarchi, Beatrice
'Palaeoshellomics’ reveals the use of freshwater mother-of-pearl in prehistory
title 'Palaeoshellomics’ reveals the use of freshwater mother-of-pearl in prehistory
title_full 'Palaeoshellomics’ reveals the use of freshwater mother-of-pearl in prehistory
title_fullStr 'Palaeoshellomics’ reveals the use of freshwater mother-of-pearl in prehistory
title_full_unstemmed 'Palaeoshellomics’ reveals the use of freshwater mother-of-pearl in prehistory
title_short 'Palaeoshellomics’ reveals the use of freshwater mother-of-pearl in prehistory
title_sort 'palaeoshellomics’ reveals the use of freshwater mother-of-pearl in prehistory
topic Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6542584/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31060688
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.45644
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