42,000-year-old Shell Jewellery Workshop Discovered - The Oldest in Western Europe

Arkeonews
28 September 2025



Archaeologists have made a groundbreaking discovery in Saint-Césaire, Charente-Maritime, uncovering what is now considered the oldest shell jewellery workshop in Western Europe. Dating back at least 42,000 years, this extraordinary find sheds new light on the cultural dynamics at the dawn of the Upper Palaeolithic era and provides rare insights into the interactions between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.

The site, known as La Roche-à-Pierrot, revealed an unprecedented assemblage of pierced shells accompanied by red and yellow pigments. The findings, led by a team of researchers from the CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, the French Ministry of Culture, and Université Toulouse 2 Jean Jaurès, have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). This discovery not only marks the first known instance of shell jewellery production in Western Europe but also offers clues about mobility, trade, and cultural exchange during one of prehistory’s most transformative periods.

A Window Into the Châtelperronian Culture

The workshop is associated with the Châtelperronian culture, a prehistoric tradition documented in France and northern Spain between 55,000 and 42,000 years ago. This period was marked by a profound shift: the gradual replacement of the last Neanderthal populations by incoming Homo sapiens migrating out of Africa.

Traditionally, Châtelperronian sites yielded bone tools and ornaments made from animal teeth. The newly discovered shell beads, however, represent an unprecedented form of symbolic expression in this cultural context. They suggest that the people of this era were experimenting with new materials and forms of ornamentation, possibly influenced by the arrival of early Homo sapiens in Europe.

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Since 2013, researchers have revisited earlier collections while applying new excavation and analytical methods, resulting in fresh insights like the shell jewellery workshop. These advancements highlight how modern science continues to rewrite our understanding of the past.

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