The Use of Shells by Hunter-Fisher-Gatherers and Farmers From the Early Upper Palaeolithic to the Neolithic in the European Atlantic Façade: A Technological Perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe role marine resources played in the subsistence strategies of groups, especially during the Palaeolithic, has been widely discussed in historiography. Much of this debate has been based on the information obtained from the consumption of marine resources as food and, to a lesser extent, their use as objects of adornment. This article presents a new approach to this debate, covering a long period from the Early Upper Palaeolithic to the late Neolithic, across a section of the Atlantic façade of Western Europe. The novelty of the present research is the application of a technological perspective to study these resources, which have been examined using a use-wear analysis methodology. This research documents the use of shell tools in archaeological sites of all time periods analyzed. These uses would be related to the processing of a variety of materials such as wood, non-woody plant, clay, ochre, and skin during the development of some of the production activities of these groups. This has enabled the addition of new information and an innovative approach to this topic.