dynamics of pre-Columbian Spondylus trade across the South American Central Pacific Coast

This 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 its existence as a series of informal commercial transactions by neighboring communities. It is not until Moche V in the Moche Valley, and the subsequent Chimu occupation, that a revolution in the exploitation of this resource occurs with a sudden increase in site frequency, a proliferation of iconographic depictions, the appearance of ritual contexts, and the appearance of a state organized redistribution infrastructure (around Chan Chan).