SEMINAR: Archaeology Seminar Series 2017

Almost all of the beads found in Australian archaeological sites are made from marine shell or animal teeth and there is strong selectivity within these two classes of beads. Shell beads are dominated by three species and beads made from teeth are almost exclusively made from incisors of the kangaroo family. Objects made from the most frequently represented shell species were widely traded in the past. We have previously suggested that the selection of shell species for traded objects is related to the abundance of the species at source and the particular physical properties of the shells, especially their ‘whiteness’. There is little evidence that beads made from animal teeth have been regularly traded and the consistent selection of kangaroo teeth suggests a different role for these beads.