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The Antiquity of Pearling in the Americas: Pearl Modification Beginning at Least 8,500 Years Ago in Baja California Sur, México

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2019

Amira F. Ainis Open the ORCID record for Amira F. Ainis [Opens in a new window] ,
Harumi Fujita  and
René L. Vellanoweth
Amira F. Ainis*
Affiliation:
Museum of Natural and Cultural History, and Department of Anthropology, 1218 University of Oregon, Eugene 97403, USA
Harumi Fujita
Affiliation:
Centro INAH BCS, Calle Legaspy 1637, Col. Los Olivos, La Paz, BCS, 23040 México ([email protected])
René L. Vellanoweth
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 5151 State University Dr., California State University, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA ([email protected])
*
([email protected], corresponding author)
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Abstract

AMS radiocarbon dating of two modified pearls from the Covacha Babisuri site, Espíritu Santo Island, Baja California Sur, México, corroborates associated midden dates suggesting that traditional indigenous use and modification of pearls as items of adornment began at least 8,500 years ago. To our knowledge, these are the oldest modified pearls found in dated archaeological contexts anywhere in the world. The presence of similarly modified pearls in later components at Covacha Babisuri suggests that this custom continued throughout the Middle Holocene, and ethnohistoric accounts indicate that similar modifications of pearls continued up until the Historic Era. These data show a long history of cultural continuity in the region in pearl harvesting, modification, and use as adornment.

La datación radiocarbónica por AMS de dos perlas modificadas procedentes del sitio Covacha Babisuri, isla Espíritu Santo, Baja California Sur, México, corrobora las fechas obtenidas de los depósitos arqueológicos asociados, sugiriendo que la modificación y el uso de perlas como ornamentos se inició hace al menos 8.500 años. Según nuestro conocimiento, estas son las perlas modificadas más antiguas provenientes de contextos arqueológicos fechados a nivel mundial. La presencia de perlas modificadas de manera similar en los depósitos más tardíos de Covacha Babisuri sugiere que esta costumbre continuó a lo largo del Holoceno medio. Asimismo, las fuentes etnohistóricas indican que esta práctica se extendió hasta la era histórica. Estos datos muestran una larga historia de continuidad cultural en la región con respecto a la recolección, modificación y uso de perlas.

Keywords

Baja Californiapearl artifactsEspíritu Santo IslandBaja Californiaartefactos de perlaisla Espíritu Santo
Type
Report
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , September 2019 , pp. 637 - 643
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by the Society for American Archaeology 

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