Can stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen be used to determine the origin of freshwater shells used in Neolithic ornament
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(2020) 12:15
ORIGINAL PAPER
Can stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen be used to determine the origin of freshwater shells used in Neolithic ornaments from Central Europe? Karina Apolinarska 1
&
Aldona Kurzawska 2
Received: 11 June 2019 / Accepted: 10 November 2019 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Neolithic burials rich in grave goods, referred to as “princesses burials”, were excavated in the Kuyavia Lowland, central Poland, Central Europe. The most common elements of grave equipment recorded in these burials were ornaments composed of disc beads made of freshwater bivalve (Unio spp.) shells. Our study was aimed at determining the origin of the shells in question by analysing, for the first time, carbon and oxygen stable isotope compositions (δ13C and δ18O) of the beads and comparing the results with C and O isotope ratios in modern shells sampled in central Poland. In the research, the isotope values of modern shells were grouped into two data sets representing riverine and lacustrine endmembers. Unio spp. shells sampled from rivers were isotopically lighter (i.e. isotope values were more negative) compared with the shells collected from lakes. The range of δ13C and δ18O values in the beads was similar to the one observed in modern Unio spp. shells. However, the isotope values differed within and between the archaeological sites studied. In Krusza Zamkowa and Osłonki, two distinct isotopic groups of beads were recognised—riverine and lacustrine—suggesting changes in the shell source in time. The C and O isotope values of beads sampled from Brześć Kujawski indicated the lacustrine origin of the shells used for their production. Also, it was confirmed that shells used to produce one ornament were derived from a single source, and the choice of sources changed in time. Our research revealed that the selection of specific local sources of shells was important for the prehistoric communities under study, and it may be considered the evidence of the existence of a regional exchange network. Keywords Neolithic ornaments . Origin of the beads . Freshwater shells . C and O stable isotopes
Introduction Throughout prehistory and history, mollusc shells were exploited by humans in various ways, primarily as ornaments, utensils, tools, currency, in pottery production and in construction material (e.g. Bar-Yosef Mayer et al. 2009; Colonese et al. 2011; Vanhaeren and d’Errico 2006; Stiner et al. 2013; Steele et al. 2019). Moreover, there is strong evidence that molluscs
* Karina Apolinarska [email protected] Aldona Kurzawska [email protected] 1
Institute of Geology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Krygowskiego 12, 61-680 Poznań, Poland
2
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Rubież 46, 61-612 Poznań, Poland
were collected as food, and in numerous societies, they constituted an important element of diet (Bailey and Milner 2008; Cakirlar 2011; Bar-Yosef Mayer et al. 2012; Stiner et al. 2002). However, the scientific value of shells recovered at a
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