The Spondylus beads from El Molino (Puerta de Corral Quemado, Catamarca, Argentina): Analysis and implications for the study of local power in Inka times

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present the analysis of a set of Spondylus beads found in El Molino (Puerta de Corral Quemado, Dept. of Belén, province of Catamarca, Argentina) –3000 km south of Tumbes–, a local residential pre-Inka site, with evidence of Inka influence during the 15th century CE. Given that the presence of objects manufactured in Spondylus in Chile and Argentina is nearly restricted to the capacochas −Inka burial ceremonies of children and young maidens dressed in fine textiles at the top of the snow-capped peaks of the Andes−, the discovery of these beads in El Molino acquires special relevance. We present the description of the raw material, the reconstruction of possible manufacturing techniques, the analysis of the morphometry and the comparison with other sets of beads. The implications of this discovery at a local and regional scale, taking into account the symbolic and strategic importance of this resource for the Inka expansive policy, are discussed. It is proposed that the site could have been a space of local power, where an elite group, that organized the manufacture of prestigious goods, was benefited by the mechanisms of hierarchization and legitimation of political power promoted by the state.