Traditions and Change in Scaphopod Shell Beads in Northern Australia from the Pleistocene to the Recent Past

Beads and pendants made from organic materials including seeds, grass stems, bone, teeth and shells were and remain a common form of body decoration in Australian Aboriginal societies. Those found in pre-Macassan and European archaeological contexts are made of the most durable materials, bone, teeth and shells and, of these, shell beads have been found in the oldest contexts where they date from at least 35,000 years ago. In mainland Australia, shell beads are confined to the north of the continent and archaeological finds are restricted to only two shell varieties – Conus and scaphopod.