Santander, February 19th-22nd 2008 - Aranzadi

Magdalenian marine shells from El Horno Cave (Ramales, Cantabria, Spain) in the regional context
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Figure 1. Location of El Horno Cave and other late Magdalenian sites in the
Asón Valley. A number of Magdalenian cave art sites are included as they
could correspond to the period being studied. 1. La Fragua; 2. El Perro; 3. El
Otero; 4. La Chora; 5. Cobrantes; 6. El Valle; 7. Los Emboscados; 8. La
Cullalvera; 9. Sotarriza; 10-11. El Mirón and El Horno.
In this paper we point out the role that malacological
fauna could play in the development of the
above-mentioned model. To achieve this, we use the
information that has already been published about
objects of adornment made from shells found at El
Horno Cave, during the first excavation seasons
(1999-01) (Vanhaeren et al. 2005, Álvarez-Fernández
2006). In addition, we incorporate into the discussion
data on ornamentation found in the latest seasons
(2004-07) (Figure 2), and the few unmodified
archaeomalacological remains found during all the
fieldwork. Because of its provenance, this archaeological
material is especially interesting for understanding
population dynamics in the Asón Valley, above
all in the case of shell beads. The mere discovery of
adornments made from shells at a montane site is in
itself a significant fact. At the same time, personal
ornamentation is one of the most significant elements
from the cultural point of view, a circumstance which
makes it particularly useful to characterize
Palaeolithic societies. It constitutes a vehicle of
expression, with very varied functions, capable of
acting as a form of cohesion for a human group and
also as a differentiating element of a group in its
social context (Álvarez-Fernández 2006, Taborin
1993, Vanhaeren 2002, White 1999). Certain factors,
such as their dispersion in time and space, their relative
abundance, their essentially symbolic function,
and the possibilities of updating studies, favour this
proposal (Vanhaeren et al. 2005).
As will be shown in the course of this study, we do
not always possess high-quality data. For example,
old excavation reports do not provide information
about the horizontal distribution of the objects and the
non-use of screens to fine-sieve the sediment (this
practice was only introduced in Cantabrian Spain in
the 1960s) caused the loss of most small-sized
objects. The material found by old excavations is susceptible
to taphonomic, archaeozoological, morphometric
and technological analysis; but the true worth
of the data is only achieved through the comparison
with other objects recovered by modern excavations.
Finally, another significant bias is produced by the
lack, until very recently, of an analysis of the full chaîne
opératoire of the objects of adornment. In our
case, the chaîne opératoire analysis has been combined
with experimental studies and a visual examination
of the archaeological material using a binocular
magnifying-glass (Álvarez-Fernández 2006).
2. EL HORNO CAVE
El Horno Cave is situated at the base of an
impressive vertical cliff, known as “Pared del Eco”
(Wall of the Echo), on the south-west side of the hill
Monte Pando, at 200m above sea level and 20km
in a straight line from the present-day coastline. It
was excavated by one of the authors (M. Á. Fano)
during six seasons between 1999 and 2007, over
a surface of 3.5 square metres.
Four main archaeological layers and a reworked
superficial level were identified. The former
consists of an archaeologically almost sterile Unit
3, above the bedrock; a Unit 2, attributed to the
Upper-Late Magdalenian with a very typical bone
assemblage; a Unit 1, that has also yielded
Magdalenian remains; and a Unit 0 interpreted as
a palimpsest of different prehistoric occupations.
Radiocarbon dates for Unit 1 and 2 (12,530 ±
MUNIBE Suplemento - Gehigarria 31, 2010
S.C. Aranzadi. Z.E. Donostia/San Sebastián