The Glorious History of Peru’s Spondylus Jewelry

When you wear a handcrafted piece of Peruvian jewelry, you are also carrying the meaning and properties of its materials against your skin. Each piece has a special meaning because it was lovingly handcrafted by people who believe that their work will bring luck, harmony, healing, and good fortune to its bearer. Spondylus shell is used in many pieces of Peruvian handicraft including the artisan necklaces of the Tikanchay collection; it is another material rich in the history and tradition of Peru. It was used thousands of years ago as a means of trade, and continues to this day to symbolize the peace that exists between Peru and Ecuador. The Lord of Sipan Museum in Lambayeque – in the northern region of Piura – displays exquisitely beaded chest plates of spondylus shell, worn by the royal princes of the Moche civilization. These tiny beads, called chaquiras in Spanish, were found on the discovered bodies, the complex weaving of the jewelry intact but for the disintegration of the thread binding them together. Archeologists used large sheets of adhesive paper to transfer the beads from the skeleton, allowing them to painstakingly restring the beads and restore the glory of the original jewelry. There are several beautiful pieces of inlaid spondylus jewelry in the Tikanchay collection.