The Economy of Metal and Shell Wealth Good

The Upper Mantaro Archaeological Research Project, a multiyear program undertaken from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, is a benchmark for a new level of quality in Andean archaeological research and has brought the theory and substance of research in the region to the attention of the larger archaeological community. This volume continues the UMARP tradition of developing innovative approaches to understanding prehistoric Andean economy and polity. In 1532, when the Spanish conquistadores ascended the Peruvian Andes from coastal Tumbes, they entered a part of the world that seemed utterly foreign to them.