Andy Needham

High-resolution analysis of beads and pendants as an indicator of cultural connection in the northwest European Early Mesolithic

The project aims to explore Mesolithic personal ornaments in northwest Europe using a raft of digital and scientific techniques. Beads and pendants were made and used in highly varied ways during this period, including the use of diverse materials, with and without supplementary engraving and/or colouring, and were worn in different ways, including as part of clothing and on strings.

Andy’s project will analyse what these attributes, and more besides, might tell us about cultural connections between different regions, focusing in particular on beads made in shale and amber. 

Andy will bring to bear his experience in experimental archaeology, working at the Department of Archaeology’s PalaeoHub and YEAR Centre to replicate the beads he studies, before going on to deploy microwear analysis to explore the tools used to produce them. Using these approaches, Andy will create high-resolution reconstructions and comparisons of the object biographies of beads from different sites, which he will use as a foundation to explore cultural contact and connectivity.