Living Among Personal Ornaments During the Magdalenian: Some Reflections About Perforated Marine Shells in Cantabrian Spain

Abstract

[EN]Personal ornaments are some of the most emblematic elements of the Magdalenian in Cantabrian Spain and are also quite abundant. This paper reviews the available evidence dated between 17,000 and 12,000 BP (20,500–14,000 cal BP) in this region. In order to define their context precisely, first a critical analysis has been made of the levels in which they were found (stratigraphic position, dates, etc.) and new unpublished and published finds have been assessed and included. With these criteria, the number of objects in the subsequent study is 1,272. By focusing on the raw material in which these objects were made, this study shows that they were made predominately from mollusk shells (57%), followed by other materials with an animal origin (teeth, bone, and antler). The proportion of mineral raw materials is <5%. The personal ornaments made exclusively from marine mollusk shells are then studied in greater depth. Only objects from levels dated to the Magdalenian by the radiocarbon technique are taken into account. A total of 655 perforated shells have been included, and their classification to species level, taphonomy, and provenance (Atlantic and/or Mediterranean) have been considered. Small specimens of species with no nutritional value predominate, particularly gastropods (L. obtusata followed by Trivia sp. make up ca. 67% of the total) rather than scaphopods and bivalves. The percentage of Mediterranean specimens is <5%. The statistical classification techniques applied to the different levels ascribed to the Magdalenian do not allow them to be discriminated according to either chronological or geographic characteristics. Additionally, to determine whether the use of different shell-types varied in the course of the millennia that the Magdalenian lasted in Cantabrian Spain, five phases have been established by filtering the radiometric dates of the levels in which the objects were found. A Biplot analysis characterizes the phases according to the preponderance of the shell-types. A clear difference is seen between Phase II, characterized by the scaphopod Antalis sp., and the other phases, in which gastropods predominate, mainly L. obtusata + L. fabalis and Trivia sp. This special issue is guest-edited by Daniella E. Bar-Yosef Mayer (Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University) and Marjolein D. Bosch (McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge). This is article #7 of 12.