The shells of large saltwater bittersweet clams in the genus '' Glycymeris'' have a special archaeological significance in the southwestern USA, because the shells were used in trade item production by the Hohokam tribe of Amerindians. In this context the shells are known to archeologists as "Glycymeris shells". These Glycymeris shells came from a very large (up to 10 cm) and handsome species, '' Glycymeris gigantea'', which is found in what is now western

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, from the Pacific coast of

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, throughout the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

, and from there as far south as Acapulco. The Hohokam people primarily used these large shells to make bracelets and rings; the center of the shell was generally removed immediately after the bivalves were collected, and before transport back to the Hohokam villages in the Gila Basin. There are several scholarly journals which have articles dealing with shell trade in the

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...

which mention the Glycymeris shell. Finds of Glycymeris have also been made in Europe with finds in

Vinča Vinča ( sr-cyr, Винча, ) is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, Serbia. It is part of the municipality of Grocka. Vinča-Belo Brdo, an important archaeological site that gives its name to the Neolithic Vinča culture, is located in the villa ...

. Glycymeris shells have also been found in the eyes of statuettes found in Ur.

References

* Colton, Harold Sellers. ''Prehistoric Trade in the Southwest.'' The Scientific Monthly. Vol 52, No.4 (Apr., 1941): 308-319. * Woodward, Arthur. ''A Shell Bracelet Manufactory.'' American Antiquity. Vol. 2, No. 2 (Oct., 1936): 117-125. * Keen, Myra, 1971. ''Sea shells of tropical west America'', second edition, Stanford University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Glycymeris Shell Glycymeris Hohokam Marine fauna of the Gulf of California Western North American coastal fauna