Geographical Distribution of the Shell-Purple Industry. 27 
small; to one of the latter, which was enveloped in mat- 
ting, the reddish hair was adhering.” 
It is suggested by Adams, and by H. B. Presten who 
identified the various shells, that the Purpura were the 
refuse of food, the shells having probably been split open 
to obtain the animal whole. The breaking of the Purpura, 
however, seems to me to possess a greater significance. 
Judging from the occurrence in the Old World of 
similar heaps of shells broken in the same peculiar manner 
in order to obtain the purple product, it is not at all 
unreasonable to assume that here we have an indication 
that ‘the Incas were cognizant of the art of purple dyeing 
by means of shell-fish. This discovery, therefore, is most 
valuable, as it at once disposes of any further doubt 
concerning the precolumbian use of shell-fish for dyeing 
purposes, and, moreover, provides us with interesting 
information as to the precise source of the purple colour 
in the beautifully preserved textiles of Peru. 
As already pointed out, this purple industry is closely 
associated, both in the Old and in the New World, with 
the appreciation of pearls and the use of the artificially 
devised conch-shell trumpet. Each of these cultura! 
elements had their origin in the Eastern Mediterranean. 
Stations for the purple industry, as we have seen, were 
established by the early Mediterranean mariners in several 
places in the Old World. In addition, we find that an 
intimate relationship existed between this art and skill in 
weaving, as well as the mining, working and trafficking in 
metals, such as gold, silver and copper. 
In the New World the purple industry is associated 
with similar pursuits. 
As Mrs. Nuttall points out, “we find that, in pre- 
columbian times, the Zapotecs, whose descendants still 
use the purpura, were famed as miners, as workers in 
