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Martín, Alexander J.
2001 The Dynamics of Precolumbian Spondylus Trade Across the South American Central Pacific Coast. M.A. Thesis. Department of Anthropology, Florida Atlantic University. Boca Raton
Abstract
The thesis provides an analysis of the archeological remains of Spondylus in the Central Pacific Coast of South America. The frequency of occurrence, spatial distribution and cultural context are compared both geographically and temporally to establish the reason for the trade of Spondylus, what form this exchange took, through what routes it moved, and how it evolved through time. The sample strongly supports a scenario in which Spondylus trade with Peru stayed relatively small scale and unsophisticated through most of the sequence as a series of informal exchange transactions by neighboring communities. It is not until Moche V in the norther coast of Peru, and through the subsequent Sicán and Chimú occupations, that the exploitation of this resource increases dramatically with a sudden boom in site frequency, a proliferation of iconographic depictions, the appearance of ritual contexts, and the appearance of a state organized redistribution infrastructure.