Shell disc beads are important archeological indicators of social communication and exchange networks. There has been substantial research on ostrich eggshell (OES) beads, but little is known about the manufacture or chronology of similar beads from land snail shells (LSS). LSS beads are associated with Holocene hunter-gatherers in Africa, though direct dates are limited to the Iron Age, and there are no images or descriptions of the manufacturing sequence. Here, we combine experimental and archeological data to resolve the chronology, operational chains, and material properties of LSS bead manufacture. We then recommend and apply a modified OES production sequence to three Later Stone Age assemblages from the Kasitu Valley of northern Malawi (Hora 1, Mazinga 1, and Kadawonda 1). At these sites, LSS shows an unexpectedly high proportion of Pathway 2 manufacture (disc shaping prior to perforation), in direct contrast with known OES bead manufacture. Application of red color occurred at all stages of manufacture, albeit inconsistently. Production of finished beads involved substantial removal of material from preforms to create the final product. Finally, we report the earliest evidence for LSS bead manufacture with two directly dated preforms (~ 9500 cal BP), showing that the origins of LSS beadmaking do precede the Iron Age.

贝壳圆珠是社交和交流网络的重要考古指标。关于鸵鸟蛋壳（OES）珠的研究已经很多，但是对于由蜗牛壳（LSS）制成的类似珠子或年代的知之甚少。LSS珠与非洲的全新世狩猎者和采集者有关，尽管直接日期仅限于铁器时代，并且没有图像或制造顺序的描述。在这里，我们结合实验和考古数据来解决LSS磁珠制造的时间顺序，操作链和材料特性。然后，我们建议对来自马拉维北部Kasitu谷地（霍拉1号，玛津加1号和卡达旺达1号）的三个晚期石器时代的组合应用经过修改的OES生产顺序。在这些地点，与已知的OES珠子制造形成直接对比，LSS显示出途径2的制造出乎意料的高比例（在穿孔之前进行盘成形）。尽管不一致，但在制造的所有阶段都出现了红色。成品珠粒的生产涉及从预成型坯中大量去除材料以产生最终产品。最后，我们报告了使用两种直接标注日期的瓶坯（〜9500 cal BP）制造LSS珠的最早证据，表明LSS珠的制造确实早于铁器时代。