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A Wealth of Beads: Evidence for Material Wealth-Based Inequality in the Salish Sea Region, 4000–3500 Cal B.P.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Gary Coupland ,
David Bilton ,
Terence Clark ,
Jerome S. Cybulski ,
Gay Frederick ,
Alyson Holland ,
Bryn Letham  and
Gretchen Williams
Gary Coupland*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 2S2
David Bilton
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 2S2
Terence Clark
Affiliation:
Canadian Museum of History, 100 Rue Laurier, Gatineau, QC, Canada, KIA 0M8
Jerome S. Cybulski
Affiliation:
Canadian Museum of History, 100 Rue Laurier, Gatineau, QC, Canada, KIA 0M8
Gay Frederick
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Vancouver Island University, 900 Fifth Street, Nanaimo, B.C., Canada V9R 5S5
Alyson Holland
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8S 4L9
Bryn Letham
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, 6303 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z1
Gretchen Williams
Affiliation:
Canadian Museum of History, 100 Rue Laurier, Gatineau, QC, Canada, KIA 0M8
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

Archaeologists working in the Salish Sea (Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound) region of the Pacific Northwest have unearthed human burials and non-mortuary features dated to 4000–3500 cal B.P. containing tens and even hundreds of thousands of stone and shell disc beads. Several sites are reported here, including burials recently excavated from site DjRw–14 located in the territory of the shíshálh Nation. We argue that the disc beads constituted an important form of material wealth at this time, based on the amount of labor that would have been required to produce them and the capacity for beads to accrue in value after their production. A model of material wealth-based inequality is developed for a period much older than many archaeologists working in the region have previously thought.

Des archéologues travaillant dans la région de la mer des Salish (Le détroit de Géorgie et de Puget Sound) de la côte nord-ouest du Pacifique ont déterré des sépultures humaines ainsi que des éléments non-mortuaires datant de 4000–3500 cal B.P. comprenant dix et même des centaines de mille perles enforme de disque fabriquées de pierre et de coquillage. Dans cet article, plusieurs sites sont discutés incluant des sépultures excavées récemment du site DjRw-14 situé dans le territoire de la Nation shíshálh. Nous proposons que les perles constituaient un format important pour démontrer la richesse matérielle à cette époque étant donné la quantité de travail requis pour leur production et la capacité des perles d’augmenter de valeur après leur production. Un modèle d’inégalité basé sur la richesse matérielle est développé pour une époque beaucoup plus ancienne que le croyaient les archéologues auparavant.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 81 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 294 - 315
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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