Stringing Beads Together: a microwear study of bodily ornaments in late pre-Colonial north-central Venezuela and north-western Dominican Republic

Bodily ornaments are abundant in the circum-Caribbean region. Made of a variety of raw materials, most notably shell, stone and minerals, they have been recovered from the archipelago and surrounding mainlands. Most studies have focused on iconographic analysis of the motifs depicted on pendants and on the sourcing of exotic raw materials from which they were made. Technologies of production have also received attention, with emphasis on workshop contexts from the Early Ceramic Age (400 BC – AD 600/800) which present abundant debitage. For the later period (until AD 1492), considerably less is known. This research proposes a theoretical framework focused on the cultural biographies of ornaments. The main objective is to approach how pre-Colonial indigenous communities have dealt with ornaments, including the collection of raw material, production sequence, use, reuse and deposition. A chaîne opératoire approach is also put forward, in order to assess technological choices, gestures,...Show moreBodily ornaments are abundant in the circum-Caribbean region. Made of a variety of raw materials, most notably shell, stone and minerals, they have been recovered from the archipelago and surrounding mainlands. Most studies have focused on iconographic analysis of the motifs depicted on pendants and on the sourcing of exotic raw materials from which they were made. Technologies of production have also received attention, with emphasis on workshop contexts from the Early Ceramic Age (400 BC – AD 600/800) which present abundant debitage. For the later period (until AD 1492), considerably less is known. This research proposes a theoretical framework focused on the cultural biographies of ornaments. The main objective is to approach how pre-Colonial indigenous communities have dealt with ornaments, including the collection of raw material, production sequence, use, reuse and deposition. A chaîne opératoire approach is also put forward, in order to assess technological choices, gestures, techniques, toolkits and skill levels. Two case studies from the Late Ceramic Age are discussed: the Valencia Lake Basin in north-central Venezuela (AD 800 – 1200) and the northwest of the Dominican Republic, especially the site of El Flaco (AD 1200 – 1400). Microwear analysis was conducted on 161 beads and pendants using optical light microscopy, with magnifications of up to 200x. Experimental replications of specific techniques with local tools and contact materials were also made to serve as analogues to the microscopic evidence. An overview of the biographies of ornaments among lowland South American indigenous societies was made in order to shed light into the patterns observed in the archaeological material. Analysis has shown that in the Valencia Lake Basin the production of ornaments had an important role, involving high skill and the use of a specialized toolkit for shell working. The ornaments display different degrees of wear and indicate different systems of attachment with strings, regardless of type and depositional contexts. In El Flaco, bead making was only limitedly present and restricted to specific raw materials. Most beads, made of calcite and igneous rocks, probably entered the site through exchange networks. In general, the beads are intact and present limited use-wear, with different intensities and distribution regardless of the type. This combined approach (microscopic, experimental and ethnographical) permitted a new insight into the role of ornaments in these contexts and on how their biographies were connected to social relations at local and regional levels.Show less

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Stringing Beads Together: a microwear study of bodily ornaments in late pre-Colonial north-central Venezuela and north-western Dominican Republic