Alexandra
i'll be live-tooting harumi shimabukuro's conference 「shell implements in the coral reef area」at yuntanza museum starting in 10 minutes. hashtag #yuntanza mute it if you hate #shell bracelets
#okinawa #archaeology
harumi is our (okinawan archaeologists' society) president and a great specialist of shell artefacts.
the room is quite full, there are 5 seats left.
May 10, 2025 at 4:55amWeb
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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the conference is related to an exhibition about the coral reefs currently held at the museum.
the conf starts with the cultural resources manager presenting harumi's life and work.
and with computer problems, because you have to start with technical problems, that's ritual.
harumi has been excavating sites in yuntanza (yomitan) for more than 40 years, most of them of the kaizuka period (early and late) and a little bit of gusuku period but she apologizes for not knowing much about…
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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…the gusuku period (that's a lie, she knows as much as any of us…)
she starts by skowing us graphs of the composition of okinawa's coral reefs (inoo
and hishi) and the type of shells you can find in. there are many shells in the reefs of okinawa. there are also dugongs in okinawa's reefs (so, dugong bones to make objects for archaeologists to find)
the reefs of the ryukyu are the northermost that exist, as north as amami.
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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the reefs in okinawa started to form 8000 years ago, but they stay in an 「incomplete」state until 5500 years ago. that's the period of the sobata pottery.
then the sea get higher, but the waves get smaller, so it's easy to live.
by 3500, the sea get lower, about as today, that's the iha-ogido pottery period.
after that the inoo (reef pool next to the shore) gets gradually filled with sand to reach nowadays state.
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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there are different types of coral reefs, in the north (amami, yanbaru) they have only hishi (the reef), most okinawa has hishi and inoo (reef and pool) and a very small part of okinawa on the east only has inoo.
during the palaeolithic, there is no coral reef, and the temperature is about 4 degrees colder. but people still use shells, even if they're not reef shell (famous example = sakitari)
the reef in yomitan can be up to 1200 metres ＊wide＊
there are 93 archaeological sites in
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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yomitan, most of them of the kaizuka period, including 28 on the coast.
toguchi-agaribaru is particularly famous for the early kaizuka period.
artefacts include projectile points and ornaments (mainly beads)
by the end of early kaizuka (stages 3 to 5) the artefacts get more numerous and varied, needles, projectile points, knives and large shells used as containers (to boil water)
they used pointy shells to make pointy tools such as drill, just polishing the part to be used.
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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the 「knives」are made by polishing the exterior border of a #clam shell.
fishhooks are very scarce (3 for all the early kaizuka)
the containers 「kettles」are very common.
and of course, ornaments ! shell bracelets, composite shell bracelets, beads, bits of shells that are just carved and polished and we don't know for sure why (i like those ones)
fun fact, north in jomon japan, people imitate okinawan shell bracelets in pottery.
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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some of the things we first thought were dull fishhooks are in fact beads (found later in funerary context on people's body).
the shell bracelets are very numerous in yomitan sites.
there are also pendants, including the famous ones imiting shark teeth. really, exactly same shape, they even engraved the striations (because shark teeth are coooool, but who wants to fightwa shark to wear one ?)
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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and we arrive at the 「amulets」, said to be 「beast shaped」(hmmm) or 「butterfly shaped」(definitely butterfly).
(there will be photographs afterwards, they have dozens of nice artefacts in the museum)
for instance
in yomitan, fukidashibaru is a famous site (it'sfamous for its gusuku period as well)
54 butterfly shaped amulets in 21 sites.
we'll have a break before we start with the late kaizuka period.
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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hey next slide uses the pottery display at the new chatan museum ! best pottery display in all okinawa, and the museum is free ! but a little bit harsh to use when you give a conf in yuntanza museum 😁
also, i wrote the kaizuka period article for english and french #wikipedia if you want further reading. and the ireibaru site article too (not in yomitan, in chatan, but nice shell artefacts)
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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so, late kaizuka ! and chatan museum ! the pottery of this period all look the same, but specialists can tell the difference (i can't, i just put them in 「late kaizuka phase 1」or「phase 2」)
there are shell-made fishing net sinkers… in fact more than 50 types of shell artefacts. apparently it's difficult to make good net sinkers, i always thought any shell would do the trick but fishers disagree. most net fishers are made of bivalves but also other shells (cones…) cut and pierced to
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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have the good shape.
some have been found all at the same place, probably buried still attached to the net.
ornaments, as always, very numerous, and amulets.
also, big period for the shell trade with japan kyushu.
in tanegashima there is a grave with a person with more than 40 shell ornaments on his body (lots lots of bracelets), those shells come from okinawa.
the shell bracelets are engraved with dot patterns, on 4 sites in okinawa, the pattern probably comes from tanegashima and
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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transmitted to okinawa.
some of the artefacts have traces of ocre on them.
there are caches of shells for trade : 155 caches in 42 sites. many also in yomitan.
in fact there are more okinawan shell bracelets in kyushu than in okinawa.
some of those trade shells are easily taken in the shallow inoo pool, but some other are living in quite deep places in the hishi reef and you have to dive to take them.
some unfinished bracelets are found in okinawa, proof that some at least were made
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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here.
in fact, there was probably not enough shells to satisfy the trade because after a while, people start to try and make bracelets with shells that look like but are not the right ones. but the kyushu people do not seem to have liked those ersatz… (fun fact, centuries later, not enough chinese porcelain for trade with japan so ryukyuans made false chinese porcelain to reach quotas 😁)
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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in momenbaru in a cache, there are only small cone shells, while in yoshinogari in kyushu, the shell bracelets are made with large ones → the shells left in momenbaru are the ones that did not pass the brokers quality check ?😁
in other caches (ex : anchinoue shellmound) we have some of the good size, so no idea why they were not sold…
in gushibaru too there are caches of small ones only.
okinawan shells are found as far north as hokkaido in japan. and in korea too.
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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in late kaizuka phase 2, there are caches of okinawan ＊turban shells＊in amami (can't find those shells in amami)
not for bracelets, found also as fragments → it's for the shining mother-of-pearl that you find inside. this trade for mother-of-pearl exists with japan and china and goes on in the gusuku period (and it's not in the conf, but also during the kingdom period, especially with china). mother-of-pearl is also used by ryukyuan crafters (ryukyu lacquer).
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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nnachikanee (nna = shell, chikanee = to grow), shell culture is developed during the kingdom period. also used as expensive food when chinese ambassador come. there are place named nnachikanee, ou nnakura (shell warehouse)
in many islands.
there is after all a 「shell minister」in the ryukyu government…
in the 19th century, mother-of-pearl is traded with europe as well, in the 20th century, it is used to make buttons.
that's the end of the conference.
Show threadAlexandraMay 10, 2025
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no question this time.
i'll go and take pictures upstairs.