PASADO, PRESENTE Y FUTURO DEL ANÁLISIS FUNCIONAL APLICADO AL ESTUDIO DE LOS INSTRUMENTOS DE CONCHA PREHISTÓRICOS

Abstract

Use-wear methodology oriented on the analysis of the lithic technology has made great progress in recent decades, both in terms of methodological approaches and the variety and quantity of applications of the technique. However, the study of tools manufactured with hard animal materials, specially the shell tools, using the use-wear methodology has been less of a focus in archaeological research. Extended and varied ethnographic information shows that populations exploiting coastal resources often used shells, expeditiously or by distinct manufacturing processes, as tools for the development of their production activities. This article shows this variety of ethnographic evidence for shell use, before presenting and discussing some of the most important applications based on the use-wear methodology for the study of these tools. Particular emphasis is made on pioneering work, its evolution over the past decades, and the future challenges for the development of this analysis in archaeological research.