We investigate archaeological evidence for the early production of (or commonly named ‘baler’) shell knives recovered from Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene deposits in Boodie Cave, Barrow Island. The site is in the Country of Thalanyji people in northwestern Western Australia. The oldest shell knife fragments were recovered from units dated to 46.2–42.6 ka, making this one of the oldest shell tool technologies currently described. We situate this early and ongoing tradition of shell tool manufacture within recent discussions of the early development of shell industries from both Island Southeast Asia and globally. Although shell knives have been previously reported from Pilbara and Gulf of Carpentaria surface middens in northern Australia, systematic analysis of the manufacturing process and associated debris, and especially from pre-Holocene contexts, has not been previously conducted. This research explores the shell knifethrough the integration of three data sets derived from archaeology, ethnography, and experimental archaeology. This study highlights the significance of shell tool industries in the northwest of Australia, and globally,from the Pleistocene and into theLate Holocenein areas with limited access to hard rock geology where shell reduction represents a unique technological strategy.

中文翻译：

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使用考古、实验和人种学数据集对早期贝壳刀生产进行比较研究：澳大利亚北部 46,000 年前的 Melo（腹足纲：Volutidae）贝壳刀制造


我们调查了从巴罗岛布迪洞穴的晚更新世和早全新世沉积物中发现的贝壳刀（或通常称为“打包机”）早期生产的考古证据。该地点位于西澳大利亚西北部的塔拉尼吉人国家。最古老的贝壳刀碎片是从 46.2–42.6 ka 的单元中发现的，这使得这是目前描述的最古老的贝壳工具技术之一。我们将这种早期且持续的贝壳工具制造传统置于最近对东南亚岛屿和全球贝壳工业早期发展的讨论中。尽管之前曾在澳大利亚北部的皮尔巴拉和卡奔塔利亚湾地表贝丘中发现过贝壳刀，但之前尚未对制造过程和相关碎片，特别是全新世前的碎片进行系统分析。本研究通过整合来自考古学、民族志和实验考古学的三个数据集来探索贝壳刀。这项研究强调了壳工具工业在澳大利亚西北部和全球范围内的重要性，从更新世到全新世晚期，在硬岩地质条件有限的地区，壳减少代表了一种独特的技术策略。