In the Salish Sea region, labret adornment with lip plugs signify particular identities, and they are interpreted as emblematic of both membership in horizontal relationships and achieved status for traditional cultures associated with labret wearing on the Northwest Coast (NWC) of North America. Labrets are part of a shared symbolic language in the region, one that we argue facilitated access to beneficial horizontal relationships (e.g., Angelbeck and Grier 2012; Rorabaugh and Shantry 2017). We employ social network analysis (SNA) to examine labrets from 31 dated site components in the Salish Sea region spanning between 3500 and 1500 cal BP. Following this period, the more widely distributed practice of cranial modification as a social marker of status developed in the region. The SNA of labret data shows an elaboration and expansion of antecedent social networks prior to the practice of cranial modification. Understandings of status on the NWC work backward from direct contact with Indigenous societies. Labret wearing begins at the Middle-Late Holocene transition, setting an earlier stage for the horizontal social relationships seen in the ethnohistoric period. These findings are consistent with the practice as signifying restricted group membership based on affinal ties and achieved social status.

在萨利希海地区，带唇塞的拉布雷装饰象征着特定的身份，它们被解释为横向关系成员身份的象征，并在北美西北海岸 (NWC) 与拉布雷佩戴相关的传统文化中获得了地位。 Labrets 是该地区共享符号语言的一部分，我们认为这种语言有助于建立有益的横向关系（例如，Angelbeck 和 Grier 2012；Rorabaugh 和 Shantry 2017）。我们采用社交网络分析 (SNA) 来检查来自萨利希海地区 3500 到 1500 cal BP 的 31 个测年地点组成部分的实验室。此后，作为社会地位标志的颅骨改造实践在该地区得到了更广泛的发展。实验室数据的 SNA 显示了颅骨改造实践之前先前社交网络的阐述和扩展。对 NWC 地位的理解是从与原住民社会的直接接触中得出的。 Labret的穿着始于全新世中晚期的过渡，为民族历史时期的横向社会关系奠定了较早的阶段。这些发现与实践是一致的，即基于亲缘关系和所取得的社会地位来限制群体成员资格。