Archaeologists discover oldest known pearl in the Americas

University of Wyoming archeology professor Todd Surovell and his team of collaborators discovered a tube-shaped bead made of bone that is approximately 12,940 years old. The pearl, found at the La Prele Mammoth site in Converse County, is the oldest known pearl in the Americas.

Surovell’s research is published in Scientific reports; the article is entitled “Using hare bone to make a Clovis bead”. Members of the research team included collaborators from the UW, the Wyoming State Archaeologist’s Office, the University of Manchester, Weber State University and Chico State University.

The La Prele Mammoth Site preserves the remains of a killed or recovered sub-adult Colombian mammoth and an associated camp occupied during the period the animal was slaughtered.

To determine the origin of the bone bead, the team extracted collagen for zooarchaeology using mass spectrometry, also known as ZooMS, which allowed the group to gain information about the chemical composition of the bone bead. ‘bone.

The researchers concluded that the bead consisted of either a metapodial (the bones that connect the phalanges of the fingers to the most proximal bones of the limb) or a proximal phalanx (a bone found in the fingers and toes of humans and other vertebrates). of a hare.

This discovery represents the first reliable evidence of the use of hares during the Clovis period, which refers to a prehistoric era in North America, particularly important around 12,000 years ago. It is named for the Clovis archaeological site in New Mexico, where distinctive stone tools were discovered.

The pearl measures approximately 7 millimeters in length and its internal diameter averages 1.6 millimeters. The research team considered the possibility that the pearl could have been the result of carnivore consumption and digestion and not created by humans; however, carnivores were not common at this site and the artifact was recovered 1 meter from a dense scatter of other cultural materials.

Additionally, the grooves on the outside of the bead correspond to human creation, either with stones or with their teeth. Beads like this were probably used to decorate their bodies or clothing.

Surovell, who also directs the UW’s Frison Institute, is an archaeologist specializing in the Paleoindian period, the earliest period of American archaeology. He has worked primarily in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, but also has field experience in Eurasia. He is interested in the factors that structure the archaeological record, from decision-making to site formation.