Jewelry collectors know them as extremely beautiful organic gemstones. There are many species of Spondylus, and they vary considerably in appearance and
range. They are grouped in the same superfamily as the scallops, but like the true oysters (family Ostreidae) they cement themselves to rocks, rather than attaching themselves by a byssus. Their key characteristic is that the two parts of their shells are hinged together with a ball and socket type of hinge, rather than a toothed hinge as is more common in other bivalves. Spondylus have multiple eyes around the edges of the shell, and they have a relatively well developed nervous system. Their nervous ganglia are concentrated in the visceral region, with recognizable optic lobes, connected to the eyes. Spondylus shell are much sought after by collectors, and there is a lively commercial market in them. Archaeological evidence shows that people in Neolithic Europe were trading the
shells of Spondylus gaederopus to make bangles and other ornaments as long as 5000 years ago (Varna necropolis). The shells were harvested from the Aegean Sea but were transported far into the centre of the continent. In the LBK and Lengyel culture, Spondylus shells from the Aegean Sea were worked into bracelets and belt-buckles.Spondylus princeps are also found off the coast of Ecuador, and have been important to Andean peoples since pre-Columbian times. In fact much like in Europe the Spondylus shells also reached far and wide as pre-Hispanic
Ecuadorian peoples traded them with peoples as far north as present-day Mexico and as far south as the central Andes. The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped animals and the sea and often depicted spondylus shells in their art.
