Signs of Authority? Symbolic media and items of personal adornment from Cache Cave

Summary

Along with a remarkable utilitarian perishable assemblage, a number of objects recovered from Cache Cave can be considered from ideological or symbolic perspectives. These include a number of ornamental and personal items that clearly indicate something other than the storage of everyday objects within the cave. This assemblage contains a variety of beads, a coyote femur tube, an exquisite chert knife, and several other enigmatic objects made of animal bone, skin, wood, and shell, including the rarest of items known of in South-Central California: a decorated bald eagle beak pendant. While some of these items may have functioned in everyday roles, the presence of rare artifact types presents the opportunity to explore dynamics of status or authority that may have been conveyed through the possession and/or display of such items. This paper describes these objects along with their contexts and considerscompeting explanations for their usage as well as for their caching at Cache Cave

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Cache Cave in Context: Unveiling New Discoveries in South Central California

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