Upper Paleolithic ornament seashells from Sala de las Chimeneas, Maltravieso cave (Cáceres, Spain) Colgantes en conchas marinas del Paleolítico superior de la Sala de las Chimeneas, Cueva de Maltravieso (Cáceres, Spain)

This work presents the findings from a taxonomic, technological and use-wear study conducted on two anthropogenic, perforated seashells that were recovered from the Sala de las Chimeneas, inside the Maltravieso cave site, Caceres (Spain).Through morphometrical and use-wear analysis, the authors have characterized perforation techniques and the use of shells as decorative pendants. The selection of the represented species (Littorina obtusata and Patella vulgata) for the manufacture of ornamental elements is frequent in Palaeolithic contexts. These species are less frequent in Epipalaeolithic contexts and testimonial in producing economies, above all in the case of L. obtusata. Contextualisation of these archaeological remains within the framework of the western European Upper Paleolithic ornamental sets has allowed the identification of parallels between the specimens of Sala de las Chimeneas and some of late Pleistocene deposits located in the Portuguese stretch of the Tagus River. The ornamental pieces presented in this study suggest that, at the end of the Pleistocene, the Tagus basin heavily influenced the landscape conception and mobility patterns of groups of hunter-gatherers, affecting their level of interaction with the Atlantic coast and with hunter-gather groups located in the western reaches of the Iberian Peninsula. RESUMEN