Personal ornaments appeared first in the archaeological record in the Middle Palaeolithic, with shell beads being the first to have been used. The same shell beads continue to exist through the recent past. However, during the Neolithic period, there are various changes in the ornaments: We observe an increase in quantity of ornaments; use of shell, stone, wood and plaster to make beads and bangles; fluctuations of ornament quantities in different communities and geographic regions; and use of more colors. These changes reflect the evolving Neolithic populations, their ideological and technological innovations, ideas, and interactions with each other. 

Daniella E. Bar-Yosef Mayer is a zooarchaeologist specializing in mollusks and studies both shell and stone beads from archaeological sites. She earned her Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2000. She has been an associate of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University since 1992. Previous experience includes teaching at the Department of Maritime Civilizations, University of Haifa. At present she is collections manager for palaeontology and archaeomalacology at The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University and a research associate of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. In 2003 she founded the Archaeomalacology working group of ICAZ (International Council for Archaeozoology). Current research projects include Upper Palaeolithic Manot Cave, western Galilee, Israel, and Jordan River Dureijat . She published over 140 papers on mollusk shells and stone beads from Israel, Sinai, Turkey and Eritrea.