Idols in exile. making sense of prehistoric human pottery figurines from Dos Mosquises Island, Los Roques archipelago, Venezuela

摘要

This dissertation examines the `social reality' of the prehistoric figurines recovered on the tinyudcoral island of Dos Mosquises, located off the Venezuelan coast. There, over three hundredudfigurine specimens altogether with numerous other items of material culture were recovered byudthe author during systematic excavations. The site was interpreted as a temporary camp whereudQueen Conch (Strombus gigas), turtle, fish, birds and salt were processed/consumed, between ad.ud1300 and 1500. The vast majority of the artefacts, including figurines, were not local products,udbut related to the Valencia culture from the north-central Venezuela mainland.udIn South America and the Caribbean, prehistoric figurines are traditionally approached as objectsudof ancient art or cult, or as typological devices. I reject both the a priori assumptions of figurineudmeaning/function that neglect the particular socio-historical contexts of their creation/use, and theudepiphenomenological approach to these artefacts. Drawing from Social Theory, Material CultureudStudies, Contextual Archaeology, Sociology of Knowledge and some traditional procedures ofudartefact analysis, I generate an `integrative' approach that combines analyses of the form (theudobject and its image), context (archaeological and social) and content (subject matter andudsignifying practice). In the analytical framework used in this dissertation, the figurine is regardedudnot as a mute product of a past culture, but as an `actor' that participated in the negotiation ofudcomplex social strategies in late prehistoric north Venezuela.udThe fact that the island figurines were produced on the mainland has direct influence on theudstructure of this research, demanding analysis of all available mainland material and its contexts.udIn consequence, `bricks' for the construction of the social reality of the Dos Mosquises figurinesudhave been sought on the mainland. I interpret mainland specimens as metaphors of the socialudcontrol of elder women over their younger female kin, as a strategy used in alliance building. Theud(re)constructed social context of the Dos Mosquises site suggests that it was largely occupied byudadult and adolescent males. The confrontation of the archaeological and social contexts, typesudand images of mainland and island specimens, resulted in the disclosure of the polyvalent,udcontext-dependent roles of the Valencioid figurines. Some of the island specimens indicate use inudritual activities and as burial furniture. Their social roles were essential to sustaining everyday life atudthe DM site by suppressing the threats of supernatural powers related to the marine environment andudits creatures.udAlthough specific interpretations are discussed in this study, its primary contribution lies rather inudthe methods developed to address questions regarding the social reality of prehistoric figurines.udThe emphasis is put on systematic and controlled ways of working `between or around data andudtheory', so that diverse sources of data can be put together to explore the meaningful connectionsudthat may link them within the overall humanistic approach. It is anticipated that the open-endedudnature of this research will indicate paths for further inquiry and stimulate future research on theudfigurines and other material culture in north-central Venezuela.