Shell Jewelry Exchange and Social Status in Central Sonora

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Crossing Boundaries: Interregional Interactions in Pre-Columbian Times" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The archaeological site of El Cementerio, dated between the Middle and Late Sonoran Ceramic Period (circa AD 1000-1521) and located in central Sonora along the Yaqui River, displays several characteristics suggestive of closer links to West Mexican coastal settlements including the presence of shell jewelry and intentional cranial and dental modification among the mortuary sample. All other artifacts consist of locally manufactured materials and traditions, whereas the shell jewelry was clearly manufactured at the coast and traded into the site. Less than half (36.9%) of the mortuary sample were buried with jewelry (pectorals, pendants, bracelets, earrings, and beads), and most were juveniles (56.1% of total with objects). This pattern contrasts the rich burial assemblages found among contemporaneous communities along the coast, and the probable source of the jewelry. We suggest that individuals buried with jewelry reflect direct connections with coastal communities and were afforded higher social status. The higher proportion of juveniles buried with jewelry likely reflects their inherited status and perceived future importance within the community.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Crossing Boundaries: Interregional Interactions in Pre-Columbian Times   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24953