About the Project

Across the Early Mesolithic of Europe beads and pendants have been made and used in highly varied ways, including using diverse materials, with and without additional engraving and colouring, and worn as part of clothing or on strings. However, the significance of personal ornaments, particularly as proxies for cultural connection between communities, requires further exploration.

Using an object biography pproach in combination with high-resolution digital recording (e.g. macro photography, 3D models, reflectance transformation imaging), and analytical techniques (e.g. portable X-ray fluorescence, microscopy, microwear, scanning electron microscopy, experimnetal archaeology), the life history of selected personal ornaments will be explored in greater detail.

By reconstructing these biographies, and comparing object from sites across Europe (especially Britain and Denmark), a multi-scalar appreciation of this artistic phenomenon will be created. This new appreciation of personal ornamentation will be used to explore an important area within contemporary Mesolithic research: the nature of cultural connections across regions of Europe.