The manufacturing of ostrich eggshell (OES) beads during Africa's Middle and Later Stone Age followed two production strategies referred to as pathways. Both include the selection of OES blanks, which may or may not be heated, followed by first perforating the fragment before trimming the edges (pathway 1) or by trimming the fragment before perforation (pathway 2), and both conclude with rounding and polishing. Commonly, each pathway is present in an assemblage, although typically pathway 1 beads are more frequent. What is not clear are the reasons that both production strategies exist, if one pathway presents more advantages than the other or if there are social or other reasons for following one strategy over the other. In this study we experimentally create OES beads using these two pathways to determine if one pathway has benefits over the other. We also test if heat treatment has either advantageous or disadvantageous influences on OES bead creation. We look at OES bead technology found at Little Muck Shelter, where both pathways are present, to determine if our experimental findings are reflected in the archaeology. The results show that there are many ways to manufacture OES beads and that both pathways 1 and 2, as well as heat treatment of shell, has advantages and disadvantages. Neither pathway offered a faster manufacturing method for bulk production, but pathway 2 did yield a vaguely higher success rate. Heat treatment of shell did aid the process in making the drilling and trimming of beads slightly faster but was less often used at LMS. The use of different pathways as well as the sporadic use of heat-treated OES by occupants at LMS depended on many complex technological and social factors.

中文翻译：

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评估小泥棚的鸵鸟蛋壳珠生产：测试途径 1 和 2 的效率和成功率的实验生产


非洲石器时代中期和晚期鸵鸟蛋壳 （OES） 珠子的制造遵循两种生产策略，称为途径。两者都包括选择 OES 坯料，这些坯料可能会加热，也可以不加热，然后在修剪边缘之前先对片段进行穿孔（途径 1）或在穿孔之前对片段进行修剪（途径 2），并且都以圆角和抛光结束。通常，每个通路都以组合形式存在，但通常通路 1 磁珠更频繁。目前尚不清楚两种生产策略存在的原因，如果一种途径比另一种途径更具优势，或者是否出于社会或其他原因遵循一种策略而不是另一种策略。在这项研究中，我们使用这两种途径通过实验创建 OES 珠子，以确定一种途径是否优于另一种途径。我们还测试了热处理对 OES 微珠的产生是否有有利或不利的影响。我们研究了在 Little Muck Shelter 发现的 OES 珠技术，那里存在两种途径，以确定我们的实验结果是否反映在考古学中。结果表明，制造 OES 珠子的方法有很多，途径 1 和 2 以及壳的热处理都有优点和缺点。这两种途径都没有为大规模生产提供更快的制造方法，但途径 2 确实产生了略高的成功率。壳体的热处理确实有助于使珠子的钻孔和修整速度略快，但在 LMS 中较少使用。LMS 居住者使用不同的途径以及偶尔使用经过热处理的 OES 取决于许多复杂的技术和社会因素。