Mesolithic engraved bone pins: the art of fashion at Téviec (Morbihan, France)
Résumé
The revisiting of the Téviec bone material by means of technological analysis, including taphonomy and usewear,
enabled us to separate bone implements from the rest of the osseous material discovered in Mesolithic
burials at this site. As a result, we find that pointed pieces made from animal bones were associated with the
deceased regardless of their age or gender. Except for five such pieces recognized by the excavators, the
points or awls were all engraved (up to 14 to date). Engravings in the form of a series of notches on the point
are interpreted as decorative. It turns out that such objects were intended for a functional purpose: to act
as a safety pin for holding garments together on the body. A pairing of such points has even been attested
along with other objects that constituted personal ornaments of some children. This suggests that wearing
bone pins was common across age groups and was an expression of fashion or could act as a group identity
marker at the end of the sixth millennium cal BC. In this regard, the bone technology supports a socio-cultural
regionalism present in Brittany at the end of the Mesolithic.
Domaines
Sciences de l'Homme et SociétéOrigine | Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte |
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