'Palaeoshellomics' reveals the use of freshwater mother-of-pearl in prehistory
- University of Turin, Italy
- Moesgaard Museum, Denmark
- University of Ca' Foscari, Italy
- Independent Researcher, Switzerland
- University of Burgundy-Franche-Comté, France
- University of York, United Kingdom
- Italian Malacological Society, Switzerland
- Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, Germany
- University of Bradford, United Kingdom
- Landesamt für Denkmalpflege im Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart, Germany
- University of Lille, France
Abstract
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.
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. Source data files have been provided for Figures 4 and 5. All the mass spectrometry proteomics data have been deposited in the ProteomeXchange Consortium (http://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org) via the PRIDE partner repository with the data set identifier PXD011985
Article and author information
Author details
Jorune Sakalauskaite
Federica Dal Bello
Kirsty E H Penkman
Funding
Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (Young Researchers)
- Beatrice Demarchi
European Commission (PERG-GA-2010-268429)
- Kirsty E H Penkman
- Beatrice Demarchi
Leverhulme Trust
- Kirsty E H Penkman
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Théophile Cocquerez
- Laurent Plasseraud
- Caroline Tokarski
- Jérôme Thomas
- Frédéric Marin
PHC Galilée programme, Italo-French University
- Jorune Sakalauskaite
- Frédéric Marin
- Beatrice Demarchi
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Reviewing Editor
- Jessica C. Thompson, Yale University, United States
Version history
- Received: January 30, 2019
- Accepted: April 20, 2019
- Accepted Manuscript published: May 7, 2019 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: May 30, 2019 (version 2)
Copyright
© 2019, Sakalauskaite et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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'Palaeoshellomics' reveals the use of freshwater mother-of-pearl in prehistory
eLife 8:e45644.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.45644
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