Marine Shell Bead Production and the Role of Domestic Craft Activities in the Economy of the Guangala Phase, Southwest Ecuador

Abstract

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The Past in the Present: Spondylus, Place, and Identity1

“…Archaeological investigations throughout coastal Ecuador indicate that Spondylus was of significant ritual and ceremonial importance to the pre‐Columbian inhabitants of the region (See Lunniss 2007, Lunniss 2008, Marcos 1986, Marcos and Norton 1981, Masucci 1995, Norton 1986, Paulsen 1974, Stothert 1995, 2003), and in this section we briefly discuss the evidence available. The goal here is not to attempt an in‐depth analysis of pre‐Columbian Spondylus use, but rather to provide a basic foundation that can be used to understand contemporary use of Spondylus in south central coastal Ecuador.…”

“…558). In later periods, archaeological evidence points to diversity in the manufacture and use of different sets of artifacts created from Spondylus (Masucci 1995, Norton 1986, Norton et al 1983), these including in particular beads, pendants and figurines.…”

“…The importance of Spondylus for pre‐Columbian Ecuador extends beyond its local use as sacred offering and for the manufacture of ritually employed artifacts. Numerous scholars (see Blower 1995, Cordy‐Collins 1990, Marcos 1986, Marcos and Norton 1981, Masucci 1995, Norton 1986, Norton et al 1983, Paulsen 1974, Rieff Anawalt 1992, Rostworowski and Morris 1999, Sandweiss 1999, Shimada 1999, Villamarín and Villamarín 1999) point to the extent and importance of pre‐Columbian long distance trade in Spondylus . And at Salango itself, Manteño workshop terraces have been identified as a processing site for Spondylus prior to outward exchange (Allan 1988).…”

“…Scholars have long noted the use of the warm‐water mollusk Spondylus for ceremonial and ritual purposes in pre‐Columbian contexts, and the presence of worked and unworked Spondylus at archaeological sites throughout the Andean region, often hundreds of kilometers distant from the equatorial marine sources of the shell, has likewise been of considerable interest to archaeologists and ethnohistorians studying the complex history of pre‐Columbian trade networks (Blower 1995, Currie 1995, Marcos 1986, Martin 2007, Masucci 1995, Murra 1982, Norton 1986, Paulsen 1974, Sandweiss 1999, Shimada 1999). In coastal Ecuador, several archaeologists have based their investigations on the hypothesis that long distance trade in Spondylus was central to the economy of late pre‐contact native populations (Marcos 1986, Marcos and Norton 1981, Martin 2009, Masucci 1995, Norton 1986). Research conducted since the 1970s suggests that at various coastal sites of southern Manabí province, Spondylus was collected, processed and used for the manufacture of artifacts largely destined for trading out to other regions (Currie 1995, Harris et al 2004, Marcos and Norton 1981, Martínez et al 2006, Norton 1986).…”

Un sistema de producción artesanal de cuentas de concha en un contexto doméstico manteño: Japoto (provincia de Manabí, Ecuador)

“…El trabajo de Maria Masucci (1995) nos brinda una información detallada de la tecnología de fabricación de las cuentas de conchas en el sitio y de la naturaleza de la producción. El Azúcar es un pequeño caserío, 25 km al interior, en donde, repartidas en 2,6 m 2 de un basurero doméstico se recuperaron 617 cuentas, entre finalizadas y en proceso, junto con 6 114 piezas de material de desecho y los instrumentos líticos de trabajo.…”