Ostrich eggshell morphology based on pleistocene and holocene samples from mongolia

Ostrich eggshell bead-making appears relatively early in regions inhabited by ostriches. This type of personal ornamentation emerged in Central Asia together with human populations associated with the laminar Initial Upper Paleolithic culture about 45,000 uncal BP or slightly earlier. Eggshell beads and pendants occur in Central Asia until the Middle Holocene, while the technology of bead-making underwent changes throughout this period. Although beads and eggshell fragments are quite common in Paleolithic sites, ostrich bones are extremely rare. Ostrich taxonomy is based on eggshell analysis, principally on shell thickness variability. Here, we present the results of an additional investigative approach aimed at taxonomic determination - analysis of eggshell pore patterns. We applied this method to samples found over a wide area in Mongolia - from the Middle Selenga Basin in the north to the Gobi Desert in the south. Samples of beads and eggshells were recovered from archaeological sites in cultural layers ranging from the Initial Upper Paleolithic to the Early Holocene Mesolithic. Our experimental studies included the fabrication offossilized (ostrich) and fresh (emu) eggshell beads to better understand the character ofvisible traces that appear on the shell surfaces after drilling and polishing. Namibian ethnographic beads made of S. camelus australis eggshell were also analyzed to compare interspecies pore patterns. This research targets taxonomic determination of the ostrich species that co-existed with humans in eastern Central Asia during the Pleistocene. Another focus of this analysis is the use of fossilized ostrich eggshell by Pleistocene hominins.