The Ornaments of the Arma Veirana Early Mesolithic Infant Burial

Abstract

Personal ornaments are widely viewed as indicators of social identity and personhood. Ornaments are ubiquitous from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene, but they are most often found as isolated objects within archaeological assemblages without direct evidence on how they were displayed. This article presents a detailed record of the ornaments found in direct association with an Early Mesolithic buried female infant discovered in 2017 at the site of Arma Veirana (Liguria, Italy). It uses microscopic, 3D, and positional analyses of the ornaments as well as a preliminary perforation experiment to document how they were perforated, used, and what led to their deposit as part of the infant’s grave goods. This study provides important information on the use of beads in the Early Mesolithic, in general, as well as the relationship between beads and young subadults, in particular. The results of the study suggest that the beads were worn by members of the infant’s community for a considerable period before they were sewn onto a sling, possibly used to keep the infant close to the parents while allowing their mobility, as seen in some modern forager groups. The baby was then likely buried in this sling to avoid reusing the beads that had failed to protect her or simply to create a lasting connection between the deceased infant and her community.

Human remains from Arma di Nasino (Liguria) provide novel insights into the paleoecology of early Holocene foragers in northwestern Italy

“…This study provides the first multi-proxy data on a Mesolithic adult from northwestern Italy, allowing for an initial assessment of the paleoecology, paleobiology, and funerary behavior of these archaeologically elusive early Holocene foragers. Nasino cave, as well as the other nearby site that yielded Early Mesolithic human remains, Arma Veirana 20 , are only about 14 km from the current seashore, and numerous pierced Columbella rustica shells were included in the burials 68 . Despite this proximity and the familiarity with the sea implied by mollusk shell ornaments, the biochemistry of Nasino skeletons suggests that the exploitation of coastal resources was not the focus of Early Mesolithic subsistence in the area.…”

“…However, her group certainly accorded her a formal funerary treatment, following a program similar to other Mesolithic burials in northern Italy (supine, with extended limbs, and surrounded by stones 18 , 19 , 21 , 93 ). In addition, like for the infant burial of Arma Veirana, they included in her burial several pierced Columbella rustica shells 20 , 68 . This ornament in particular seems to have had a special role in the construction and maintenance of Mesolithic personhood and identity, and was exchanged over long distances throughout Europe 94 – 96 .…”