Abstract
Oxygen isotope analyses of Spondylus shells from neolithic sites suggest that the source for the shells used as ornaments in the Balkans and central Europe during the fourth millennium BC was the Aegean and not the Black Sea. The trade in Spondylus may have taken the form of an exchange of gifts.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Clark, J. G. D., Prehistoric Europe: the Economic Basis, 241 (Methuen, London, 1952).
Rodden, R. J., Acts of the Seventh International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Science (Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague, in the press).
Bowen, R., Palaeotemperature Analysis (Elsevier, Amsterdam and New York, 1966).
Keith, M. L., Anderson, G. M., and Eichler, R., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 28, 1757 (1964).
Craig, H., and Gordon, L. I., Occ. Publs. Narragansett Mr. Lab., 3, 277 (1965).
Epstein, S., and Mayeda, T., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 4, 213 (1953).
Longinelli, A., and Craig, H., Science, 156, 56 (1967).
Gat, J. R., and Carmi, I., J. Geophys. Res., 75, 3039 (1970).
Craig, H., in Stable Isotopes in Oceanographic Studies, 1 (Consiglio Nazionale della Richerche, Pisa, 1970).
Sverdrup, H. U., Johnson, M. W., and Fleming, R. H., The Oceans, 650 (Prentice-Hall, New York, 1942).
Urey, H. C., J. Chem. Soc., 562 (1947).
Epstein, S., Buchsbaum, R., Lowenstam, H. A., and Urey, H. C., Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 64, 1315 (1953).
Vinogradov, A. P., Devirts, A. L., Dobkina, E. I., and Markova, N. G., Radiocarbon, 8, 292 (1966) (sample Mo-287).
Zenkevitch, L., Biology of the Seas of the USSR, 395 (Allen and Unwin, London, 1963).
Berciu, D., Cultura Hamangia, 80 (Academiei, R. S., Romania, Bucharest, 1966).
Heurtley, W. A., Prehistoric Macedonia, 89 (University Press, Cambridge, 1939).
Evans, J. D., and Renfrew, C., Excavations at Saliagos near Antiparos, 65 and 127 (British School of Archaeology at Athens, London, 1968).
Vencl, S., Archeol. Rozhl., 11, 699 (1959).
Renfrew, C., Dixon, J. E., and Cann, J. R., Proc. Prehistoric Soc., 34, 328 (1968).
Sahlins, M. D., in The Relevance of Models for Social Anthropology, 147 (edit. by Banton, M.) (ASA Monograph 1, Tavistock Publications, London, 1965).
Malinowski, B., Argonauts of the Western Pacific (Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1950).
Mauss, M., The Gift, 22 (Cohen and West, London, 1954).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
SHACKLETON, N., RENFREW, C. Neolithic Trade Routes re-aligned by Oxygen Isotope Analyses. Nature 228, 1062–1065 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/2281062a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2281062a0
This article is cited by
-
Evaluating Social Complexity and Inequality in the Balkans Between 6500 and 4200 BC
Journal of Archaeological Research (2019)
-
The Archaeology of Trading Systems, Part 1: Towards a New Trade Synthesis
Journal of Archaeological Research (2008)
-
Stable isotopes in mineralogy
Physics and Chemistry of Minerals (1977)
-
Neolithic Spondylus
Nature (1971)
-
Obsidian Source Identification by Fission Track Analysis
Nature (1971)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.