The Research On Palaeolithic Personal Ornament Of China

Personal ornaments are playing an important role in Paleolithic Archaeology and human civilization.As a convincing hallmark of modern behavior and the emergence of cultures resembling ours,personal ornaments have given us much information about their makers and users,which cannot be given by other artifacts like lithic and bone tools.Many archaeologists consider that the use of personal ornaments reflects an early emergence of behavioral modernity,modern cognition,and the use of complex communication systems.The research about personal ornaments have attracted considerable attention particularly in the English-speaking world,but in China the in-depth study is still at an early stage.This is due to the relative shortage of discoveries and loss of key collections during the Upper paleolithic.The earliest known personal ornaments in China consist of 141 beads,found at Zhoukoudian Upper Cave,Beijing.Instead of simply recording and emphasizing the size,color,number of the personal ornaments,in China,modern researches focus on the reconstruction of manufacture processes,such as the experimental archaeology research about the ostrich eggshell beads found at Shuidonggou conducted by Wangchunxue et.al. But the further inquiry is necessary into the researching methods and theories.This paper will provides an overview of current evidence on the uncovered personal ornaments and recent progresses of personal ornaments research,and try to summarizes the fruitful exploration in this field of China.At last it will proposes some initial theories and methods about personal ornaments analysis.