My project focuses on Early Mesolithic personal ornaments in northwest Europe. Personal ornaments were made and used in varied ways during this period. This includes different materials and associated sourcing strategies, processes of production, engraving and/or colouring (where applicable), methods of use and the duration and intensity of that use, and deposition, which takes in contexts as diverse as mortuary inhumations to deposition into water bodies.

My project explores these factors using a biographical approach. This theoretical approach is supported by direct macroscopic and microscopic analysis of selected Early Mesolithic personal ornaments, with accompanying digital recording. This analysis is advanced through the use of experimental archaeology, which is used to replicate the selected beads and pendants to better understand their production and use. The experimental results are informing a programme of microwear analysis to study the replica personal ornaments produced, along with the tools used to make them, which can be compared against the archaeological specimens.

The results will support the eventual development of data driven, high-resolution personal ornament biographies from different sites, facilitating comparisons at an intimate scale. In turn, the results will facilitate the exploration of wider questions, such as personal ornament production and craft, but also cultural similarities and differences in production and use, both within and across regions.