Discussion 



43 



shell illustrated {ibid., fig. 94,1?) but not mentioned 

 in the text is clearly of the genus Phalium, probably 

 the species granulatum referred to above collected on 

 the east coast of the peninsula. The Pacific species 

 are: Oliva porphyria, O. spicata, Anadara grand! s 

 ["Area grandes"), and Spondylus princeps ("5. 

 crassisquama"). These proveniences are remarkable 

 in that the bulk of shell from the site was imported 

 from the more distant Pacific ocean. 



Piedras Negras, on the Usumacinta River, has an 

 equally interesting molluscan fauna, although shell 

 does not seem to have been as abundant or varied 

 as at other sites. Of eight marine species reported 

 (Coe, 1959), five are Adantic, only one of which 

 may be of significant distribution: Cittarium pica 

 {"Livona pica"), which in our peninsular collections 

 has appeared only on the Caribbean coast, where it 

 is very common. -Three species are of Pacific origin: 

 Crucibulum spinosum, Morum tuberculatum, and 

 Spondylus princeps ("S. limbatus"). Again we have 

 the anomalous situation that half the species, and 

 the bulk of actual shell found, are imported from 

 the Pacific and the Caribbean instead of the much 

 closer Gulf of Mexico. At Piedras Negras, as at 

 Barton Ramie, there is extensive offertory use of 

 freshwater and land molluscs (six species). 



Quite diflferent patterns emerge for the north- 

 ern and, southern Maya lowlands. In the north — at 

 Dzibilchaltun, Mayapan, and Chichen Itza — the 

 overwhelming mass of archaeological shell is trace- 

 able to the nearest convenient beaches, with a hand- 

 ful of exceptions apparently brought from the more 

 distant Caribbean coast. Interest in the sea and its 

 products is emphatic here as it is elsewhere, but local 

 supply seems to have been the dominant factor in 

 choice. 



In the south, where most sites are at some distance 

 from the sea, trade routes or selective choice of 

 material were obviously stronger factors than simple 

 geographic propinquity, perhaps because of ethnic 

 barriers of which we are not yet aware. Where we 

 have evidence worthy of consideration, the tides of 

 trade which brought in shells to the Peten area in 

 general came from the distant Gulf of Mexico, not 

 the closer Caribbean shores whence one would ex- 

 pect simple forms of sea life to be collected. Perhaps 

 more significant, the southern Maya lowlands im- 

 ported a very large proportion of their shell from 

 the much more distant Pacific coast. 



With two species, this is quite understandable. 



The first, Oliva porphyria, is an exceptionally beauti- 

 ful shell (see Keen, 1958, pi. VIII) and, given the 

 very widespread fondness for tinklers, much more 

 attractive in color and design than any of the 

 Adantic Olivas. Boekelman (1935, pp. 267—72, 

 figs. 8—13) discusses distribution of this shell out- 

 side the lowland Maya area, noting its trade as 

 far as Roatan and Guanaja in the Bay Islands. 

 He identified the species on ornamented girdles on 

 four Copan stelae and one from Quirigua, noting, 

 "Wherever the shell is found sculptured in stone, 

 it is probable that the natural shell will be found 

 also." Longyear subsequently found the natural shell 

 at Copan. Moholy-Nagy points out several represen- 

 tations of this shell on Tikal stelae, again as belt 

 ornaments. And, as noted above, the natural shell is 

 also found there. 



The second, Spondylus princeps, is again a strik- 

 ingly beautiful shell (see Keen, 1958, pi. II), un- 

 derstandably traded very widely in pre-Columbian 

 times. Boekelman (1935, pp. 262—66, figs. 4—7) 

 outlines its history of use and its distribution: "The 

 writer has been able to trace its use from the South- 

 western district of the United States down to the 

 Peruvian territory, throughout which, among the 

 higher types of cultures along the Pacific Coast, it 

 appears to have been a very highly prized shell, 

 especially closely connected with religious supersti- 

 tions" {ibid., p. 265). It has been found at San Jose, 

 Pusilha, B.H. (Gruning, 1930, p. 483, pi. XXI, 

 fig. i), Tikal, Uaxactun, Copan, and Piedras Negras 

 in the lowlands and was probably present at other 

 southern sites where the genus is common but the 

 species not differentiated. Wherever intensive exca- 

 vation has been undertaken in the south, Spondylus 

 seems to have been of constant ceremonial import, 

 as well as the raw material for a number of artifacts. 



To explain the frequent occurrence of the Pacific 

 species on the Atlantic watershed, Boekelman notes 

 that the Atlantic species does not contain the deep 

 red colors of princeps. There is also to be considered 

 the fact that both americanus and princeps are deni- 

 zens of deep water (10 fathoms or more) and could 

 be collected in pre-aqualung days only by very 

 skilled divers. Groups of such divers played an 

 important role on the Pacific coast (e.g., the King- 

 dom of Colima paid an annual tribute to Montezuma 

 of 1600 valves), and the profession must have been 

 important. Such feats would be far beyond the 

 ability of the Adantic or Gulf coast fishermen of 



