A Nondestructive Method for Identifying Freshwater and Marine Origins of Archaeological Shell Artifacts

ABSTRACT This study proposes a nondestructive method for determining the freshwater or marine origin of archaeological shell artifacts using x‐ray fluorescence (XRF) and Raman spectroscopy. Based on analyses of 14 modern and archaeological shell taxa, we establish a two‐step diagnostic workflow using Mn/Sr ratios and calcium carbonate polymorphs. Applied to shell beads from the Baimakou Site (Yunnan, China), the method confirms marine bivalve origin and suggests prehistoric material exchange with Southeast Asia. The results provide species‐specific reference data and demonstrate the potential for scalable, noninvasive shell provenance analysis.