Ornamental traditions during Epigravettian: techno-functional study of shell ornaments from Martin rockshelter (Alpes-Maritimes, France)

Description

Ornaments are a non-verbal mode of communication, employed by societies to transmit various information between individuals such as membership to a group, social status or biological maturity. Ornaments contribute both to the construction of the group and individual identity. Ornamental traditions, when we are able to decipher them, can give us an image of the territorial and social organisation of human groups. Since ornaments can be part of the maintenance of exchange networks, it can inform us about transfers of know-how and/or aesthetic conceptions. During the Epigravettian (20 000 – 9 000 cal. B.P.), ornaments are predominantly made out of marine shells. However, most Epigravettian sites only benefit from malacological determination. On very few site technical and sometimes functional aspects were taken in account: grotta Continenza, riparo Biarzo and Vela Spila. Martin rockshelter, attributed to terminal Epigravettian, revealed 136 seashells, among which Antalis sp., Tritia pellucida and Columbella rustica. Most of them present use-wear traces, which give us an idea on how the objects were worn, on the ornamental compositions. Use-wear traces nevertheless erase gradually technological traces. They however bring complementary information on the societies, in the extent that technical gestures stem from cultural choices. We therefore made experimentations in order to understand how use-wear modifies technical traces, and consequently, in what extent can we identify technological choices on a used archaeological object. Various manufacture techniques were tested on three marine shell species: perforation by grinding, pressure and drilling, on Tritia pellucida and Columbella rustica, and truncation by sawing and flexion for Antalis sp.. The shells were then used by means of a sieve shaker, and use-wear development was regularly documented during the experimentation. This work should allow us to better understand the different steps of ornament biography.

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