Ostrich Eggshell Research Articles

Distinguishing stone age drilling techniques on ostrich eggshell beads: An experimental approach

In this article we outline a statistical method for distinguishing ostrich eggshell (OES) beads perforated with a hand turned drill bit and those created with a hafted drill. This distinction has important implications for tracking past bead-making traditions across space and time, and for tracing the first appearance and spread of hafted drilling. Previous efforts to reconstruct the way in which beads were perforated have relied on a common sense approach, usually in combination with an experimental reference. However, without blind-test results or other metrics of reliability it is unclear how accurate these methods are. We argue that the quantitative framework described here provides a much needed answer to this question and helps to further systematize the process of bead analysis. We also define a set of terms which we hope will allow for a more standardized discussion of bead production signatures and techniques.

Optimization of Ostrich Eggshell Catalyst in Transesterification Using Waste Cooking Oil via Response Surface Methodology

In this research work, waste cooking oil biodiesel production was optimized using a design of experiment (DOE) approach: response surface methodology (RSM), based on a five level, three variables central composite design (CCD) to investigate the interaction effects of the different combination of transesterification reaction variables such as catalyst concentration, reaction temperature and time, using ostrich eggshell CaO base catalyst. A quadratic polynomial equation of the response, biodiesel yield was attained via multiple regression analysis to predict the relation between yield and the chosen variables. The results showed that the temperature and time are the most important process parameters on the biodiesel production. The optimal operating conditions for the transesterification reaction have been found to be: reaction temperature of 67 °C, alcohol/oil molar ratio of 10:1 (fixed parameter), catalyst concentration of 1.97 % w/w and reaction time of 1.77 h. The predicted biodiesel yield was about 99.67% under the optimal conditions through the ANOVA numerical method.

The ostrich eggshell beads craft of the Ju/’hoansi: A reflection on modern craft theories

The ostrich eggshell beads craft of the Ju/’hoansi: A reflection on modern craft theories

Early Makuria Research Project. Royal ornaments of the Late Antique African kingdom, Early Makuria, Nubia (AD 450–550)

After the fall of the Meroe kingdom, three entities – Nobadia, Early Makuria, and Alwa (Alodia) – emerged in northeast Africa between the 4th and the 6th centuries AD. Richly furnished elite cemeteries with tombs of the Nobadian kings are known from Qustul and Ballaña in Lower Nubia (Emery and Kirwan 1938), but until now no royal tombs of Early Makuria have been identified. A comparative analysis of some recently excavated adornments and ornaments from the tumulus cemetery of el-Zuma in Upper Nubia have now enabled the Early Makuria royal tombs (AD 450–550) to be placed there. The assemblages from three large tumuli are dominated by personal adornments (beads, pendants, earrings, chains, crosses, and a ring), royal regalia (cabochons and settings), and other decorated items (metal sheets, an intarsia and ivory gaming pieces). Apart from beads of various materials, like marine mollusk shell, ostrich eggshell, faience and stone, which were made probably in local workshops, the remaining items were imports from the Mediterranean and Sri Lanka/South India (glass beads in the latter case). Moreover, many of the decorated objects and the techniques used to make them find parallels in the elite Nobadian cemeteries of Qustul and Ballaña, hinting at the royal origin of some of the Early Makuria tomb owners at el-Zuma. These parallels induce the thought that there was a single workshop in late antique Nubia producing artifacts for the elite.

Portable art and personal ornaments from Txina-Txina: a new Later Stone Age site in the Limpopo River Valley, southern Mozambique

This paper reports on preliminary fieldwork at the Later Stone Age site of Txina-Txina in Mozambique. Excavation yielded a long stratigraphic sequence, a large lithic assemblage, a unique decorated gastropod shell fragment and two ostrich eggshell beads—the first of their type recovered from a Stone Age context in Mozambique.

Environmental diversity and stable isotope variation in faunas: Implications for human diet reconstruction in Argentine mid-latitude deserts

This paper presents the results of an isotopic study of δ13C and δ15N values for bone collagen from 209 modern faunas from central-western Argentina. The samples come from two ecologically distinct areas: the Monte and Patagonian Deserts. The results confirm high intra- and inter-taxonomic variation in both isotopes. Previous studies of camelids, rodents and ostrich eggshells in this region showed a clear relation between animal δ13C and δ15N values, altitude, and the percentage of C3 and C4 plants. This pattern was not fully met among the species considered in this paper. No statistical differences were seen between δ13C values from Monte and Patagonian Deserts, although differences in δ15N were found. When samples from saltmarsh contexts were considered separately, differences among δ15N isotopic values become more pronounced, pointing to a relation between δ15N isotopic signatures and soil salinity. Archaeological human diet reconstruction based on isotopic data needs to pay attention to this significant variation in resources isotopic patterns in order to be used as a reliable dietary indicator.

Early Makuria Research Project. Beads and pendants from Tanqasitumulus cemetery, Nubia, Sudan (Season 2018)

An assemblage of 1687 beads and pendants was recovered from the excavation of five tumuli: 16, 23, 46, 52, 179) in the cemetery of Tanqasi in Sudan. The assemblage is dominated by faience beads (n=920). The remaining beads and pendants are made of glass (n=422), stone (n=241), ostrich eggshell (n=102), and metal-in-glass (n=2). Morphological estimation based on material, technique of manufacture and shape provides a preliminary overview of types that are encountered at Tanqasi cemetery. In addition to beads made of locally available materials (ostrich eggshell, quartz and faience), glass beads of Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific provenance were found. In general, the assemblage is dated to the period between the late Meroitic and post-Meroitic. A few bead types: small faience, bichrome glass and gold-in-glass, are late Meroitic in date. One stone bead may be Napatan in origin.

Beads and pendants from the Hellenistic to Early Byzantine Red Sea port of Berenike, Egypt, Season 2014 and 2015

Almost 650 beads and pendants, most of them of glass and faience, were excavated over two seasons in 2014 and 2015 at Berenike on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. This material, coming from 19 trenches variously located within the Hellenistic to early Byzantine site, has contributed some new data, enhancing the Berenike bead typology. Highlights included a Bes pendant of glass from a Hellenistic context and early Roman mosaic glass beads with face patterns. Other materials of which the ornaments were made included marine mollusk shells, ostrich eggshell, and a variety of stone and minerals. Of greatest interest were beads coming from early Roman graves, of an older man (the order of the threaded beads could be traced) and of animals (neck collars). Beads threaded on fragments of string, most probably of Indo-Pacific make, came from the early Roman rubbish dump.

Middle and Later Stone Age chronology of Kisese II rockshelter (UNESCO World Heritage Kondoa Rock-Art Sites), Tanzania.

The archaeology of East Africa during the last ~65,000 years plays a central role in debates about the origins and dispersal of modern humans, Homo sapiens. Despite the historical importance of the region to these discussions, reliable chronologies for the nature, tempo, and timing of human behavioral changes seen among Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeological assemblages are sparse. The Kisese II rockshelter in the Kondoa region of Tanzania, originally excavated in 1956, preserves a ≥ 6-m-thick archaeological succession that spans the MSA/LSA transition, with lithic artifacts such as Levallois and bladelet cores and backed microliths, the recurrent use of red ochre, and >5,000 ostrich eggshell beads and bead fragments. Twenty-nine radiocarbon dates on ostrich eggshell carbonate make Kisese II one of the most robust chronological sequences for understanding archaeological change over the last ~47,000 years in East Africa. In particular, ostrich eggshell beads and backed microliths appear by 46–42 ka cal BP and occur throughout overlying Late Pleistocene and Holocene strata. Changes in lithic technology suggest an MSA/LSA transition that began 39–34.3 ka, with typical LSA technologies in place by the Last Glacial Maximum. The timing of these changes demonstrates the time-transgressive nature of behavioral innovations often linked to the origins of modern humans, even within a single region of Africa.

Zinc-doped Calcium Phosphate Coating on Titanium Surface Using Ostrich Eggshell as a Ca2+ Ions Source

Natural calcium source materials can be thermochemically processed and directly transformed into hydroxyapatite. In this work, ostrich eggshell was used as Ca2+ ions source in the preparation of zinc-calcium phosphate coatings on Ti substrates promoted by a two-step deposition method. The obtained coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy with field emission gun (FEG-SEM), bioactivity using McCoy medium and toxicity with chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). The results showed the presence of Znbrushite and Zn-hydroxyapatite as coating phases. Bioactivity was observed in all samples showing bone-like apatite on their surface. The toxicity test showed inflammatory response between mild to moderate confirming the material’s biocompatibility. The use of ostrich eggshells was shown to be effective as a Ca2+ ions source to obtain zinc-containing hydroxyapatite coatings on Ti substrates.

Engraved ostrich eggshell from the Middle Stone Age contexts of Goda Buticha, Ethiopia

Excavations at the site of Goda Buticha, Ethiopia, have recovered a small sample of engraved ostrich eggshell (EOES) fragments. The earliest specimens date to ~34ka and ~43ka, thus representing the oldest known examples of EOES in eastern Africa, and occur in association with a Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithic assemblage. The occurrence of EOES at Goda Buticha persists into the Holocene, similar to certain MSA technological features. EOES provides an additional line of evidence through which to examine the variability in the MSA and the complex transition from the MSA to the Later Stone Age in eastern Africa.

Explaining the lack of emu eggshell material culture in Australia: Experimental working and archaeological implications

Ostrich eggshell (OES) disc beads are among the earliest types of personal adornment produced by Modern Human populations in African and Asia, and represent the first example of a raw material transformed into an entirely new shape — as opposed to simply perforating a whole marine shell — for decorative purposes. These same beads have continued to be made into present day as an important item in modern gift-exchange systems in sub-Saharan Africa, while OES has a similarly long history for being used as water (etc.) containers. Given the importance of OES to so many communities through time and space, questions regarding why a similar use of emu eggshell (EES) is completely absent from the Australian context is frequently voiced in archaeological forums. This paper will address that question through experimental replication of both OES and EES disc beads for direct comparison of their manufacture and use characteristics. It was found that while it is possible to successfully create disc beads in EES, there are several factors which make this raw material unsuitable for use in either social or utilitarian technologies.

Organic technology in the Pastoral Neolithic: osseous and eggshell artefacts from Luxmanda, Tanzania

Hard animal materials were key components of prehistoric daily life, with many such raw materials shaped into diverse tool types and personal ornaments. With few exceptions, outside of the far south and north of Africa, osseous artefacts have been largely understudied on the continent, with this situation particularly applying to pastoralist contexts. Well-documented worked bone, ivory, or ostrich eggshell (OES) assemblages tend to be associated with hunter-gatherers and are generally interpreted with reference to contemporary hunter-gatherer toolkits. Study of osseous and OES technologies used by ancient or modern pastoralist populations, on the other hand, remains in its infancy. In this paper, we present an analysis of 14 worked bone, ivory, and OES artefacts from the Pastoral Neolithic site of Luxmanda located in north-central Tanzania. We apply technological trace analysis to understand histories of manufacture, use, and discard and compare our findings against the corpus of osseous and eggshell technologies recovered from terminal Pleistocene through Holocene sites of eastern Africa, providing a synthesis of this region for the first time. Finally, we explore the limited record for comparable technologies in recent pastoralist communities and argue that forager/food producer distinctions based on organic technologies are neither present nor meaningful based on current evidence.

A technological and morphological study of Late Paleolithic ostrich eggshell beads from Shuidonggou, North China

We report the results of a detailed analysis of ostrich eggshell (OES) beads derived mainly from Cultural Layer 2 (CL2) of Locality 2 at the Shuidonggou site (SDG2) in North China, which is dated to ca. 31 ka cal BP. The eggshells belong to the extinct ostrich Struthio anderssoni. Based on microscopic examination, morphometric analysis, and experimental replication, we identify clear differences in morphology, size, technology, and style. Results indicate that the technology of bead making is similar to that used in most Middle and Later Stone Age sites in Africa and recorded ethnographically. Both well-made and poorly-crafted OES beads were produced at SDG2. Drilling experiments conducted in the framework of this study show that hafted stone points were probably used to make the perforations. Only occasionally beads were deliberately polished on inner and outer eggshell surfaces. Beads morphology and technology suggest that distinct types of beads were made by different individual craftspeople. This supports the hypothesis that several human groups visited the Shuidonggou site and used OES beads as an information technology about 31 ka cal BP.

The earliest evidence of coloured ornaments in China: The ochred ostrich eggshell beads from Shuidonggou Locality 2

Beads are a communication technology used by humans to transmit information on the wearer identity to members of the same or neighbouring groups by means of a shared symbolic language. Here we focus on the earliest evidence from Eastern Asia of a communication technology – the production of artificially coloured beads – that has allowed humans to further complexify the messages conveyed by personal ornaments, and associate, to some extent, the performance characteristics of beads and pigment. We study six ochred ostrich eggshell beads (OESB) from Shuidonggou Locality 2 (SDG2), Cultural Layer (CL) 2, China, dated to c. 31kyrcalBP. Analysis of the beads manufacturing technique, size, and wear, combined with SEM-EDS and µ-Raman spectroscopy (µ-RS) study of well-preserved red residues sampled on the beads and sediment from CL2 indicate that these beads come from body ornaments and that red residues are the remnant of a pigmented compound coating the beads at the time they were worn by the SDG Palaeolithic visitors. SDG2-CL2 red stained OESBs thus represent, with the red stained bone disk from Xiaogushan, the earliest consistent evidence of pigment use for symbolic activities from China. Results also identify variations in the composition of the pigmental compound used to colour the beads that closely match differences in bead technology, size, and style. We argue that such a hitherto unknown consistency in bead production and decoration may reflect technological, morphological, and pigment coating standardisation at the individual level, standardisation in technology associated with variation in morphology and pigment at the group level, and substantial differences in these three domains at inter-group level.

Middle to Late Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherer encampments at the Ashalim site, on a linear dune-like morphology, along dunefield margin water bodies

This study presents distinct and small task-specific sites associated with the Middle to Late Epipalaeolithic period exposed during a salvage project at the site of Ashalim at the fringe of the northwestern Negev desert dunefield (Israel). Six areas spanning the Geometric-Kebaran to Harifian periods were systematically collected upon a unique 4 m high and 100 m wide linear dune-like morphology. This morphology was a vegetated linear dune that blocked the underlying drainage system and led to the development of standing bodies of water which, together with the exposed wet bottom provided fauna and flora resources during the winter and spring. The relatively large number of sickle blades and lunates uncovered during the excavations suggest cereal consumption combined with hunting activities.Ten optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements conducted for the dune-like morphology indicate that the occupations of the site post-date ∼15.5 ± 3.1 ka BP, while bodies of water were present intermittently until at least ∼11 ka BP, possibly even after the Harifian occupation. Two radiocarbon dates, taken from ostrich eggshell fragments that were found upon the flat surface of the dune-like morphology, further support this time range. The current study demonstrates how aeolian-fluvial interactions, and not necessarily a wetter climate, are important for forming conditions conducive for occupation by prehistoric groups in arid zones.

Application of RSM and Taguchi methods for optimizing the transesterification of waste cooking oil catalyzed by solid ostrich and chicken-eggshell derived CaO

This paper reported the optimization of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil catalyzed by solid ostrich-eggshell and chicken-eggshell derived CaO via transesterification process using response surface methodology (RSM) and Taguchi method. Quadratic polynomial equations were obtained for transesterification reaction. Independent variables i.e. molar ratio of methanol to oil (M:O), catalyst concentration, reaction temperature and reaction time were investigated. It was found that the most influential parameter on the biodiesel production was reaction temperature based on both RSM and Taguchi method. The optimum biodiesel yield of ∼98% (ostrich eggshell) and ∼96% (chicken eggshell) were achieved at M:O of ∼10:1; catalyst concentration of ∼1.5 %w/v; reaction temperature of 65 °C; and reaction time of ∼2 h for RSM and Taguchi method, respectively.

Excavations at Mlambalasi Rockshelter: a Terminal Pleistocene to Recent Iron Age Record in Southern Tanzania

The Mlambalasi rockshelter in the Iringa Region of southern Tanzania has rich artifactual deposits spanning the Later Stone Age (LSA), Iron Age, and historic periods. Middle Stone Age (MSA) artifacts are also present on the slope in front of the rockshelter. Extensive, systematic excavations in 2006 and 2010 by members of the Iringa Region Archaeological Project (IRAP) illustrate a complex picture of repeated occupations and reuse of the rockshelter during an important time in human history. Direct dates on Achatina shell and ostrich eggshell (OES) beads suggest that the earliest occupation levels excavated at Mlambalasi, which are associated with human burials, are terminal Pleistocene in age. This is exceptional given the rarity of archaeological sites, particularly those with human remains and other preserved organic material, from subtropical Africa between 200,000 and 10,000 years before present. This paper reports on the excavations to date and analysis of artifactual finds from the site. The emerging picture is one of varied, ephemeral use over millennia as diverse human groups were repeatedly attracted to this fixed feature on the landscape.

Beads, pigments and early Holocene ornamental traditions at Bushman Rock Shelter, South Africa

Beads and pigments represent compelling evidence that humans decorated their bodies and used them to convey complex social messages. While the manufacturing process of ostrich eggshell and marine shell beads is firmly established, their common association with pigment residues still remains poorly understood. Here, we focus on various types of beads from the early Holocene of Bushman Rock Shelter (Limpopo, South Africa), namely ostrich eggshell, giant land snail (Achatina sp.) shell and marine shell (Nassarius kraussianus) beads. We propose a new approach combining a technological and use-wear study of the beads with chemical analyses (SEM-EDS and Raman analyses) of the coloured residues they bear. Together with the discovery of marine beads, of particular interest since they originate more than 240km away from the site, our detailed study of the beads and associated pigment residues demonstrates a complex system of ornamental representation. We identified a minimum of two types of red compound ‘recipes’, with evidence that one was employed as adhesive while the other one might be consistent with the production of a pigment. Non-local minerals were recognised in adhesive recipes, namely chromite and ilmenite in one case, and graphite in the other. We further discuss ornamental traditions, their social implications and their increasing importance at the onset of the Holocene in southern Africa.

Trade and faith in Nubian Early Makuria (AD 450–550): macroscopic examination of personal adornments from el-Zuma in Nubia

In the long history of the land between the Third and Fourth Cataracts on the Nile, the period corresponding to the times of Early Makuria is particularly well represented. The el-Zuma tumuli cemetery has been dated to the Early Makuria Phase II (AD 450–550). Although the graves were heavily robbed, the remains of personal adornments (beads, pendants, rings, and an earring) give a broad overview of materials (marine mollusk shell, coral, ostrich eggshell, stone, metal, faience, glass) and techniques applied in their production. A comparative synopsis of contemporary Nubian adornments shows parallels for the objects from el-Zuma. Moreover, the provenance of the materials and manufacturing techniques suggests el-Zuma’s involvement in regional and longdistance exchange during this period. Finally, the presence of a Christian symbol and imported beads in the el-Zuma tumuli is meaningful in itself.