New Insights into Use-Wear Development in Bodily Ornaments Through the Study of Ethnographic Collections

• DOI: 10.1007/s10816-018-9389-8
• Publication Date: 2018-09-05T01:02:10Z
• Authors: Catarina Guzzo Falci; Jacques Cuisin; André Delpuech; Annelou Van Gijn; Corinne L. Hofman
• Keywords: Ornaments; Adornment; Materiality; TRACE (psycholinguistics); Affordance; Bridge (graph theory)

The use of microwear analysis has made substantial contributions to the study archaeological bodily ornaments. However, limitations persist with regard interpretation and reconstruction systems attachment, hampering a holistic understanding diversity past adornment. This is because complexities ornament biographies resulting wear traces cannot be grasped exclusively from experimental reference collections. In this paper, we propose bridge gap in by systematically researching ethnographic We conducted microscopic 38 composite ornaments lowland South America housed at Musée du quai Branly (Paris). These objects involve organic, biomineral, inorganic components, attached through different string configurations. combined optical 3D digital microscopy magnification ranges provided thorough trace formation, distribution, characterization. demonstrate how individual beads develop characteristic use-wear relation one another strings. further challenge common assumptions sum, research addresses methodological interpretative issues adornment large, providing insight into that were actually worn lived context. future, our results can applied as for more effective worldwide.