Abstract

FABRA, Mariana. Malacological beads associated with human bone remains in the late Holocene of the central region of Argentina. Rev. Mus. Antropol. [online]. 2018, vol.11, n.2, pp.49-58. ISSN 1852-060X.

This paper analyzes a set of ornamental malacological artifacts (beads) recovered in association with human bone remains in the vicinity of Villa Santa Rosa (31° 12.9' 56'' S; 63° 21.8' 66'' W), Province of Córdoba. For each element, quantitative and qualitative morphological attributes (weight, shape, size, contour, and presence, position and size of perforations) were analyzed. A total of 32 formatted elements with two different types are recognized. One of them corresponds to 28 circular discs with biconcave perforations and which, according to their size, shape and homogeneity, is subdivided into two subtypes. The second typology represents a novel design since no other similar artifacts are known, and it is made up of 4 pieces with trunk-conical shape provided with an internal tubular sector, which functionally would be equivalent to a perforation. These last pieces were made from a specific sector (umbilical zone) of the shell of the terrestrial snail Megalobulimus (probably the local species M. lorentzianus). This new finding is added to other previously made in the Province of Córdoba, which account for the association between mollusks with human remains, particularly female individuals. The habitat of the species used for the preparation of beads, the sequence of their manufacture, and the functionality of these artefacts, mainly related to social and symbolic issues of the populations that inhabited the late Holocene in this region, are analyzed.

Keywords : Archaeomalacology; Beads; Land snail; Megalobulimus lorentzianus; Late Holocene; Córdoba.

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