Spondylus

Debitage from the reduction of Spondylus valves into pieces useful for craft
production was recovered at the site of Rio Chico, Manabi Province, Ecuador, from
multiple occupations that represent different cultural periods of Coastal Ecuador.
The material is analyzed and interpreted from a production context and defines
basic production characteristics for each cultural period represented. Changes in these
characteristics seen within the sequence are highlighted and then compared against
changes found in the regional exchange system defined by Martin (2000). The results
indicate that the greatest level of variability and the least processing intensity occurred
within the youngest occupation (later Mantefio) and the greatest amount of change
through time occurred between the earlier and later Mantefio period. It also suggests that
the local production processes did not change in response to changes in the regional
exchange system. Instead, responses to changes in the regional trade context could have
involved geographic expansion of the Spondylus habitat they exploited by initiating, or
expanding an already existing, trade route with Mesoamerica.

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).