Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Technology, Society, and Change: Shell Artifact Production among the Manteno (A.D. 800-1535) of Coastal Ecuador

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

Under the supervision of Dr. David L. Browman, Benjamin Carter will analyze shell artifacts from a series of sites once occupied by the Manteno, who lived on the north and central coasts of Ecuador from approximately A.D. 800 until 1535. These people were Phoenician-like merchants who managed a trade network extending from Chile in the south and Mexico to the north. Although they traded many different wares, among the most important goods were colorful shell beads made from the marine bivalve, Spondylus. The natural habitat of Spondylus extends from the Gulf of California to the Gulf of Guayaquil, which is also the southern limit of the Manteno area. They had, therefore, a near monopoly on Spondylus trade to the precocious empires of the Andes to the south where it was religiously and politically essential. Although Spondylus has been studied in these consumer societies, no study has been completed on the manufacture and use of Spondylus in producing societies, of which the Manteno were of particular importance. Without such a study we cannot adequately understand the role of Spondylus in Pacific South America. This research will remedy this omission through an analysis of shell production utilizing an approach known as the chaine operatoire. This approach is both methodologically and theoretically rigorous, requiring collection of significant numbers of relevant data on the technology of production in order to reconnect it to society in general. Over 5000 artifacts will be measured, categorically quantified, and cataloged. The context from which the object was recovered will serve to reconnect it to prehistoric living and activity spaces and, therefore, to a lived existence. Artifacts from six previously excavated archaeological sites, each representing one of three different time phases of the Manteno period and one of two geographic areas, will be investigated. This broad sample ensures that the project will closely represent shell production among the Manteno through time and space. Spondylus beads served an important role in trade, but other shell artifacts were for local consumption. Therefore, all shell artifacts, as well as associated tools, will be analyzed. The chaine operatoire approach has not been used to study shell artifact production and will, therefore, contribute to both the methodological and theoretical aspects of this approach as well as to studies of craft production in general. The research will have evident importance for fellow social scientists. In addition, it will contribute to the cultural heritage of the Ecuador by scientifically analyzing one aspect of the national patrimony. This is especially important for the people of the Ecuadorian coast, who are descendants of the Manteno and have lost much of their history through colonial rule. This is no small matter; Spondylus has been used to symbolize a recent peace accord between Ecuador and Peru. One means this information will be disseminated is through a public presentation coordinated with the Ecuadorian national Institute of Cultural Patrimony. This project will also include graduate student training, thereby contributing to the continuance of scientific archaeology.