THE USE OF MOLLUSC SHELLS AS TOOLS BY COASTAL HUMAN GROUPS The Contribution of Ethnographical Studies to Research on Mesolithic and Early Neolithic Technologies in Northern Spain David Cuenca Solana and Igor Gutiérrez Zugasti Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria, Edif. Interfacultativo, Avda. Los Castros, sin 39005 Santander, Cantabria, Spain. Email: david.cuenca@unican.es and Ignacio Clemente Conte Departamento de Arqueología y Antropología. IMF-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain KEY WORDS: Shell tools, Ethnography, Technology, Archaeomalacology, Functional analysis, Hunter-gatherers In European archaeology, th e malacological remains recovered in archaeological contexts have traditionally been considered almost exclusively as food waste. In other cases, this view has been broadened in order to study these remains as an express ion of aspects of the social organization of the human groups, based on th e use of perforated shells as objects of personal ornamentation. However, th e study ofthese natural resources as raw materialsfor the manufacture oftools aimed at satisfYing th e production needs of the human groups has been very limited. This little-developed aspect of research is at variance with the abundant ethnographic information from many diflerent periods and geographical settings showing that malacological resources were used in many complex and varied ways. This papel' is an attempt at compiling a small part ofthis ethnographic information- a contribution which, through its critical application to the archaeological record, is of interest in establishing a methodology for studying this type of evidence. In the specific case of northern Spain, information from ethnographic studies has been used to develop an appropriate methodology with which to approach the analysis of this kind of archaeological evidence, as recently documented for the first time at the classic site of Santimamiñe (Basque Country). At the same time, th e documentation of shell tools cou ld pro vide an explanation for the scarcity of "traditional technologies " that characterizes many Mesolithic and early Neolithic si/es in northern Spain. GATHERING AND CONSUMPTION OF MALACOLOGICAL RESOURCES BY COASTAL HUMAN GROUPS The malacological remains found in archaeological contexts have generally been studied from the viewpoint of accumulations produced by gathering activities aimed at satisfying nutritional needs. This use as a food source may be thought Journal of A nthropological Research, vol. 67, 20 I 1 Copyright by The University ofNew Mexico