Richard Burger

In 1985 Richard Burger was carrying out investigations at Chavin de Huantar, a site in the northern highlands of Peru famous for its imposing temple and exquisite stone sculpture. Research showed that between 700-400 BC, the ceremonial core was surrounded by one of the largest known settlements for this time period, a proto-urban residential area occupied by a population of some 3,000 residents. Excavations on the steep slopes overlooking the temple revealed deeply buried elite housing, In one unit, dubbed D1, a low stone platform had been erected following the abandonment and filling of a house and two offerings were recovered at the base and top of this feature. Both consisted of a mixture of guinea pig bone and spondylus shell fragments. The distinctively pink colored shell fragments were identified as Spondylus princeps (sometimes known as the thorny oyster), a highly valued warm water species alien to the cold waters of the shores of central and northern Peru, but native to the warmer waters of Ecuador and the far northern coast of Peru over 1,000 kilometers away. The burial of guinea pigs with spondylus shell is a traditional Andean religious offering which was still in use at the time of the Spanish conquest. In late prehispanic times, spondylus, known as mullu, was considered a preferred food of the gods. Offerings placed in the under the floors or in foundations of constructions were thought to ensure the success of the building, an idea that remains common in some Peruvian highland communities.

The spondylus shell encountered in the two offerings consisted of 53 fragments including a dozen pieces that had been cut, polished and perforated to form beads and small pendants. Almost 80% of the spondylus appears to be incomplete spondylus objects that were cut but never finished or simply small scraps of spondylus that were the residues of the shell working. Judging from these remains, the thorny oyster shells had been carried to Chavin de Huantar in an unworked state and were then crafted into exotic shell ornaments in the elite residential area behind the temple. Yet the sacred power of the mullu was such that even these unfinished spondylus fragments were considered as appropriate as an offering to the Andean supernatural forces that governed daily life.