Santander, February 19th-22nd 2008 - Aranzadi

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ESTER VERDÚN
Figure 7. Yamana’s hut and shells around it. (Mission Scientifique du Cap
Horn, 1882).
needs of the Yamana. This is materialized by the
use of valves and molluscs first consumed as food
and reused as building element.
5. CONCLUSIONS
According to the traditional point of view, which
is still in use, archaeological shell middens are still
only considered as residue accumulations. The
study of molluscs has been often focused on its
caloric value as an alimentary resource (e.g. Bailey
1975, Meighan 1980, Erlandson 1988, Orquera
1999). Besides this point of view on the molluscs’
evaluation, it is also possible study to the different
and less common uses of those resources. As
happens in Túnel VII, the use as raw material
means the reuse of those food residues for different
purposes.
In this report the molluscs study is focused on
the mollusc consumption evaluation seen from
another perspective: as a sign of other less
obvious activities carried out in the settlement. This
aim has been possible using the application of statistics
and study of molluscs as component of the
sedimentary matrix. We see its presence as the
result of the actions carried out by the society living
in the settlement. The differential distribution of
some remains, which are taken as the base of the
sedimentary matrix, shows us a series of actions.
Those actions can be deliberate or not, following
concrete purposes or taphonomic actions derived
from the settlement occupation. Said actions might
have probably gone unnoticed.
The results obtained from the application of the
inferential statistics as well as the results obtained
from the calculation of the density show a significant
difference in the location of some sedimentary components;
that difference is not due to random reasons.
The difference is focused basically on the valves,
soil and pebbles content in each stratigraphic
subunits: the stratigraphic subunits with a proportional
higher content of shells are located outside the
occupational centre, where the hut would be situated;
the ones with a higher content of soil and pebbles
would be located inside the hut.
These differences can be explained associated
to social activities such as:
a) The Yamana society carried out maintenance
activities of the settlement, like cleaning the inner
part of the hut and throwing the residues outside the
hut. Some chronicles describe this activity, for example:
E. L. Bridges (2005: 67): “All residues such as
clams, limpets and bones were thrown outside, next
to the door. As time went by, a two metre high protective
ring was formed all around the hollow where
those people lived.” (Translated by the author)
b) The preparations of the ground or the fire
place inside the hut: the inner hut was set up with
sediment and pebbles which can be easily found
on the beach, or they could be also used for the
building of the fire place (Verdún 2006).
c) Moreover, they reused these residues (shells)
as building elements and protection against the
wind. They built something similar to a skirting board
with them whereas the hut was being located in a
hollow. Ethnographic evidences prove this idea.
In summary, the study of the malacological
remains from another perspective allows us to
obtain a better knowledge of the social organization
of a society from the past.
6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Jordi Estévez for his critical
comments, Montse Verdún for the translation of
the paper and Mónica Salemme and José Ramos
for their critical review.
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY
BAILEY, G. N.
1975 “The role of molluscs in coastal economies: the results of
analysis in Australia”. Journal of Archaeological Science,
2: 45–62.
BRIDGES, E. L.
2005 [1948]: El último confín de la Tierra, Ed. Sudamericana,
Buenos Aires.
ERLANDSON, J. M.
1988 “The role of shellfish in prehistoric economies: a protein
perspective”. American Antiquity, 53 (1): 102–109.
MUNIBE Suplemento - Gehigarria 31, 2010
S.C. Aranzadi. Z.E. Donostia/San Sebastián