Dentalium beads - shells of fosillised sea molluscs at the Vinca-Belo brdo site
Authors: Dimitrijevic Vesna , Tripkovic Boban , Jovanovic Gordana 
Published: June 2011

During excavation of the Vinca-Belo Brdo site a significant number of
decorated items made from clay, stone, bone, and seashells or snail shells
have been collected over the years. Amongst the decorated objects which
could be classified as jewellery the majority are bracelets, pendants, and
beads made from Spondylus and Glycymeris shells, as well as beads made from
Dentalium shells. The appearance of these beads and the question of their
origin have not yet been specifically considered within studies of
prehistoric cultures in the central Balkans. Furthermore, they have rarely
been illustrated and mentioned in archaeological site inventories, which we
presume has not been because of their poor representation, but rather
because of their being unfamiliar. The aim of this work is therefore to: a)
systematize data about Dentalium beads from all phases of excavation of the
Belo Brdo site in Vinca; b) to show the importance of this kind of jewellery
in the study of resources around the Vinca settlement; and c) to indicate
the wider chronological perspective and the significance of studying
Dentalium beads within the prehistory of the central Balkans. Dentalium is a
carnivorous Scaphopoda sea mollusc, uncommon and insufficiently studied.
Representatives of this class of Scaphopoda have been found on Serbian
territory in the Badenian sediments, deposited fifteen million years ago.
Badenian sediments were discovered around Loznica, Belgrade, Arandjelovac,
Golubac, Zajecar, and Negotin. The region of Belgrade and the surrounding
area had been covered by a warm, shallow sea of normal salination. On the
territory of Belgrade, offsprings of the Badenian sediments, rich in
fossils, have been discovered in the city centre (Tasmajdan, Kalemegdan), as
well as in many surrounding places (Rakovica, Kaludjerica, Lestani, and
Jajinci) (fig. 2). Scaphopod shells found at the Vinca-Belo Brdo
archaeological site are usually transversally broken. Judging by the basic
appearance of the shells and their ornamentation (longitudinal stripes and
rising lines) on better preserved examples (fig. 3: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) the
Fissidentalium badense type is distinct. The ornamentation of the shell is
in most cases well preserved, save that in a few examples the longitudinal
stripes are broken (fig. 3:22) or the outer surface of the shell has been
abraded/dissolved by a physical-chemical agent. Dentalium shells have been
used for making jewellery from prehistoric times right up to the present
day. The reason for this lies in the regular shape of the shell, which is
completely unchanged, or, with a little effort, can be used as one longer or
(by breaking it laterally) a larger number of shorter cylindrical beads. On
the territory of Serbia today, pre-Neolithic beads have not been known to
date. Neither have they been cited in published materials from
early-Neolithic to mid-Neolithic Starcevo sites. On the basis of literature,
we would say that they appear for the first time in late Neolithic/early
Eneolithic times, that is, in the period of the Vinca culture. After that
time, it seems that Dentalium beads were mostly used during the Bronze Age,
judging from the grave inventories of the necropolis in Mokrin (Moris
culture), where there are findings in around 10% of graves. These are formed
from fossilized shells. The beads are usually strung together and were worn
around the neck. Usually they were strung in combination with beads and
pendants made from other materials (for example teeth, bones, kaolin, stone,
bronze etc). Since excavation of the Vinca-Belo Brdo site began in 1908,
until 2009, 362 Dentalium beads were found. With the exception of one case,
beads were formed from fossilized shells. Most fossilized shells were used
by the inhabitants of Belo Brdo in the form in which they were found. Very
rarely, traces of workmanship on the edges of beads can be noticed under
magnification - carving and polishing (fig. 3: 21), showing that beads were
sometimes finished off, probably when natural breaks were not rounded off
but were too sharp, or when they the shells were broken to obtain smaller
pieces. Beads are located in all levels of Vinca culture settlements, with
depths of between ?0.7-?9.0 m (fig. 4a). However, at depths of between ?6.5
and ?7.3 m, only one bead has been found (at ?7.0 m) which indicates a
reduced interest in Dentalium beads, to the extent of the cessation of their
use in the corresponding period. It is not clear whether the beads were worn
individually or in a string. Most beads were found individually, but this
does not necessarily mean that they were not worn in strings, since these
may have been dismantled prior to their deposit. Twenty-nine beads found
together indicates that at least some were worn strung (?8.2 m), as do two
pairs of connected beads (with the narrow end of one placed in the wider end
of the second bead (fig. 3: 24). Regarding the question of how inhabitants
of the Belo Brdo settlement found Dentalium shells, there is no doubt that
they were collected in deposits of fossils situated in the wider
surroundings of Vinca. The same kind of scaphopod Fissidentalium badense is
present among shells used as beads, as well as in Miocene deposits in the
area. The taphonomic characteristics of archaeological examples do not
differ from samples collected in fossil deposits. It is interesting that
inhabitants of the Belo Brdo collected other fossils too, sometimes bringing
them to the settlement, but rarely using them for jewellery. Undoubtedly
Dentalium shells were accepted as ?ready made? beads, but it is also
possible that the Dentalia were chosen because they were ?in fashion?, since
the Belo Brdo inhabitants may have known that they were used in other parts
of the pre-historic world.