Shell or Na Ments from the up per Paleolithic through Mesolithic Lay Ers of Klissoura Cave 1 by Prosymna (peloponese, Greece)

Ab stract More than 1500 shell or na ments were re cov ered dur ing the ex ca va tions of the early Up per Paleolithic through Mesolithic lay ers of Klissoura Cave 1. The or na ment as sem blages from the mid dle and lower Aurig na cian and the ear li est Up per Paleolithic (Uluzzian) lay ers as so ci ate with well pre served hearths and other in tact cul tural fea tures. The older or na ment as sem blages are ex cep tion ally rich in mol lusk spe cies, whose shells hu mans col lected from ma rine shore lines, fresh wa ter hab i tats and Plio cene fos sil sources. A par tic u larly dense con cen tra tion of or na men tal shells oc curs within the area of a small struc ture in the lower Aurig na cian (layer IV). Tax o nomic di ver sity in the or na ment as sem blages de clines pre cip i tously af ter the for ma tion of layer IIIe–g (up per Aurig na cian), and this con di tion of low di ver sity per sists through the end of the cul tural se quence. The changes in or na ment di ver sity seem to re flect nat u ral changes in coast line hab i tat struc tures of the re gion. All of the Up per Paleolithic or na ment as sem blages are “high-graded” or se lec tively win nowed for har mony in color, form and qual ity. There are few if any hints of man u fac tur ing er rors and de bris typ i cal of shell or na ment as sem blages in coastal sites. Rather, the or na ments dis play high fre quen cies of use wear (pol ish), usu ally in a pre ferred ori en ta tion, in di cat ing that most of them ar rived on site while af fixed to hu man bod ies or or ganic ar ti facts. There are no re mains of ed ible ma rine mol lusks in Klissoura Cave 1, con sis tent with its in land lo ca tion. The tax o nomic com po si tion of the early Up per Paleolithic shell as sem blages is sim i lar to those doc u mented in It aly, whereas the very lim ited tax o nomic com po si tion of the later or na ment as sem blages is most con sis tent with those found at Franchthi Cave on the south ern Argolid.