An incised shell object from Baradostian (Early Upper Palaeolithic) layers in Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan

Authors

Chris Hunt, Queen's University, Liverpool John Moores UniversityFollow
Evan Hill, Queen's UniversityFollow
Tim Reynolds, University of LondonFollow
Dlshad Abdulmutalb, Directorate of Antiquities
Lucy Farr, University of CambridgeFollow
Ross Lane, Canterbury Archaeological Trust
Katherine A. Szabo, University of WollongongFollow
Graeme Barker, University of CambridgeFollow

RIS ID

114945

Publication Details

Hunt, C. O., Hill, E. A., Reynolds, T., Abdulmutalb, D., Farr, L., Lane, R., Szabo, K. & Barker, G. (2017). An incised shell object from Baradostian (Early Upper Palaeolithic) layers in Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 14 318-322.

Abstract

Shanidar Cave contains one of the most important Palaeolithic archaeological sequences in West Asia. During renewed excavations of Baradostian (Upper Palaeolithic) layers in the cave, an incised land-snail shell fragment was recovered. A natural cause seems unlikely and it does not appear likely to reflect palaeoeconomic functions. It is suggested tentatively that this may have been made during manufacture of a composite artefact designed for visual display. Although Upper Palaeolithic ornaments are often reported, composite ornaments of this period are rather unusual.