Taphonomic And Use Features For Mollusk Shells From El Mnasra Cave

Emilie Campmas published a dataset in 2026 detailing taphonomic and use-wear features for mollusk shells from US 8 of El Mnasra cave. The dataset records surface preservation, abrasion types, smoothing intensity, and presence of ochre or heating for species including Tritia cf. gibbosula and Columbella rustica. It is a small, specialized archaeological dataset shared as an 11.6 KB XLSX file under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Use Cases

• Classify shell surface preservation (Shiny, Matte, Chalky) to infer environmental exposure.
• Analyze correlations between abrasion morphological types (a, bc, dc, eb) and use-wear localization.
• Assess smoothing intensity of the perforation edge (Low to High) as an indicator of tool use.
• Investigate the co-occurrence of Heating and Presence of ochre features on shells.

Strengths

• Dataset provides specific taphonomic and use-wear features like abrasion types and smoothing intensity.
• Clearly documents archaeological context: shells from US 8 of El Mnasra cave.
• Includes identifiable species: Tritia cf. gibbosula, Tritia corniculum, Columbella rustica, Ocenebra sp.
• Published under a permissive CC BY 4.0 license for reuse.

Limitations

• Very small dataset at 11.6 KB, indicating limited sample size.
• Unknown row and column counts prevent assessment of statistical scope.
• Specialized archaeological focus limits generalizability to other domains.

Provenance

Source

Emilie Campmas via figshare.

Collection Method

Archaeological analysis of mollusk shells from a specific cave unit.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated March 2026.

Geography

El Mnasra cave.