Spondylus as a Driver of Long-Distance Exchange

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Coastal Connections: Pacific Coastal Links from Mexico to Ecuador" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

For many years the shellfish, Spondylus, has been seen as a driver for long distance exchange. Overfishing of the highly sought Spondylus pushed harvesters farther and farther north, possibly as far as West Mexico, in search of the red, orange and/or purple shell and promoting interaction between distant and disparate peoples. Yet, the overfishing hypothesis has been only partially tested. Current understandings of Spondylus ecology indicate that the shellfish may have been much more easily acquired and broadly available than originally thought and therefore much more difficult to deplete. The presentation will address the effects of updates to Spondylus ecology as well as the current archaeological evidence for overfishing and long distance exchange of Spondylus. I propose additional ways to test the hypothesis. Though clearly an important component of long distance exchange, it now appears less likely that Spondylus was a primary driver.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Coastal Connections: Pacific Coastal Links from Mexico to Ecuador

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23783