Santander, February 19th-22nd 2008 - Aranzadi

240
HERVÉ V. MONTERROSA & REYNA B. SOLÍS
In the finished objects category, there are only
4 pendants, two of these are automorphic, in other
words, they keep the natural shape of the biological
specimen with which they were manufactured
(Suárez 1977: 31, Velázquez 1999); these are from
the Conus and Turritella species; and two xenomorphic,
whose shape is different from the conch
from which they were obtained (Ibid:21), in these
cases Pinctada mazatlanica valves were used,
and finally a bead of the latter species (fig. 8).
These elements are associated with different
sequences of stucco floors, which correspond to
different stages of the north face on the third storey
of the pyramidal foundation, which sustains the
residential area of the elite.
On the west façade (fig. 10), 16 objects showing
evidence of production were registered and a
Pinctada mazatlanica pendant, as well as 16 specimens
without cultural modification, among which we
find the following species: Chama echinata, Oliva
sp., Muricanthus princeps, Spondylus calcifer,
Euglandina sp. and various species of Crassostrea
sp. This material is associated with different sequences
of rooms and floors that are joined to the second
story of the pyramidal foundation, which is unfortunately
badly degraded, due to the town’s drainage
and drinking water networks, which has made it
impossible to determine its function.
Figure 8. Finished objects of Pinctada mazatlanica.
5. CONTEXTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MALACO-
LOGICAL MATERIAL
Prior to the 2007 project, rescue operations
outside the site took place due to pavement construction
by the city council on the streets that mark
the site’s limits in the north and west, and separate
it from modern residential houses (Fig. 9).
On the north walkway 3 objects were recovered:
a conch pendant, a Pinctada mazatlanica
fragment and a full Astraea unguis specimen.
Figure 9. Spatial distribution of the contexts with shell objects drawing by
Miguel Pérez Negrete.
Figure 10. West façade.
In the southwest portion (fig. 11) four fragments
were found of the Chama echinata,
Euglandina sp. and Ostrea species associated
with supports and buttresses that protect the
rooms from the Pezuapan, the fore-mentioned ravine
that borders the site to the south. Here, we find
a drainage canal that channels rain water through
the foundation to prevent its destruction.
During the 2007 project, whose purpose was
the excavation and consolidation of the west façade,
where the main access is located, and of the
rooms located on the upper part of the structure,
four pieces of production evidence and four encrustation
fragments of Pinctada mazatlanica were
found within the site, as well as 14 elements without
cultural modification of the following species: cf.
Turritella, Chama echinata and Crassostrea. The
molluscs are associated with the elite rooms, the
MUNIBE Suplemento - Gehigarria 31, 2010
S.C. Aranzadi. Z.E. Donostia/San Sebastián