A micro-wear analysis of Natufian gazelle phalanx beads from el-Wad Terrace, Mount Carmel, Israel

The late Epipaleolithic Natufian Culture of the Levant (ca. 15,000–11,700 BP) is renowned for its rich bone industry. A specific type of bone bead, the gazelle phalanx bead, is abundant in several sites but nearly absent in others. In this study, phalanx bone beads from the current excavations at the Natufian site of el-Wad Terrace (Mount Carmel, Israel) were studied through use-wear analysis, integrated in an experimental program to reconstruct their production sequence, mode of suspension, and use. The experimental program included controlled experiments of abrasion, polishing, and drilling, replication experiments, and suspension experiments producing an extensive database of wear patterns. Based on the experimental program, the sequence of operations was inferred by detecting the intersection of the traces. A repetitive four-step procedure is reconstructed, including skinning the bone, scraping it and making a transversal cut with flint tools, then drilling the bone using the pump drill technique, followed by abrasion against limestone with water to create a smooth and polished bone surface. Reddish powder found on ten beads was chemically analyzed through SEM EDX indicating an additional step of coloring with ochre. Traces on the drilled holes indicate the use of organic fibers for suspension and a unique type of use-wear also showed the contact against leather material indicating that the Natufians utilized gazelle phalanx beads in their daily clothing. A well-established craft is therefore revealed, displaying the artistic capability to express the Natufian identity in a complex society where rules had to be portrayed to others so that organization and structure could maintain the (sedentary) community intact.