Date of Award
2001
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Kennedy, William J.
Abstract
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).
Extent
105 p.
Recommended Citation
Martin, Alexander Javier, "dynamics of pre-Columbian Spondylus trade across the South American Central Pacific Coast" (2001). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009. 196.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_5/196
Identifier
FADT12831
Comments
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2001.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters