Transcordilleran sumptuary goods in Argentinian Patagonia. The case of the Homalopoma marine snail

The tiny Homalopoma snail inhabits the Pacific Ocean in the Fuegian channels and Chilean fjords south of Chiloé Island. However, in the archaeological record they have been recovered as perforated artefacts in areas far removed from their area of provenance, mainly in the north-western sector of Arg...

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Autores principales: Gordillo, Sandra, Hajduk, Adam
Formato: Artículo revista
Lenguaje:Español
Publicado: Centro de Estudios Históricos. UA CONICET 2022
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Acceso en línea:https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/comechingonia/article/view/36449
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Sumario:The tiny Homalopoma snail inhabits the Pacific Ocean in the Fuegian channels and Chilean fjords south of Chiloé Island. However, in the archaeological record they have been recovered as perforated artefacts in areas far removed from their area of provenance, mainly in the north-western sector of Argentine Patagonia. In this contribution, based on the analysis of materials and bibliography, we analyse their record in 12 archaeological sites that together cover a wide time range that exceeds 5,000 years. Information is provided on the contexts in which they were found and probable routes of circulation, and other aspects related to manufacturing techniques and colour as a differential attribute are discussed. It is concluded that these artefacts would have been of selective consumption and are interpreted as prestige ornaments for the human groups that inhabited the area where they circulated.