Del océano al verso. Las caracolas de Pablo Neruda

times. These seashells not only account for the socio-cultural value they had, they also reflect the complex relationship between nature and human societies. Such is the case of the Spondylus sp. 19 , a mollusc called mullu by the Inca. Spondylus is a bivalve that lives in warm waters and is distributed from the Gulf of California (USA) to the Gulf of Guayaquil (Ecuador). The Spondylus sp. lives in rocky substrate, around 33 mts. below sea level, depending on the species. 20 For several indigenous peoples of South America, the Spondylus sp. possessed great symbolic value: they were widely used to craft religious objects for rituals and offerings, and to create ornaments to be worn by the higher ranks of their societies. 21 The high value of this species is related to the difficulty of its extraction, due to the depths in which it dwells, as well as the characteristics of its shell, a surface covered with spines protecting the mollusc. 22 Also, because of its reddish color, this species was called "red gold" by the Inca. Another characteristic of this mollusc is its sensitivity to the changes in temperature, a trait that makes it a natural indicator for meteorological phenomena. The ancient cultures of Peru and Ecuador knew how to interpret the behaviour of these molluscs, a discovery that allowed them to predict rains and, therefore, the [19] Sp.: Abbreviation of "species". [20] Catalina Soto y Diego Salazar. "Mullu (sp.) en el Complejo Minero San José del Abra (Alto Loa, Norte de Chile)", Intersecciones en Antropología 17 (2014): 129-135. [21] César Lodeiros Seijo et al., "Breve Historia del Spondylus en el Pacífico Suramericano: Un símbolo que retorna al presente", Interciencia , 43 n°. 12 (2018): 872. [22] Jorge G. Marcos. "Intercambio a larga distancia en América: el caso del spondylus". Boletín de Antropología Americana 1 (1980): 124. 94 universidad de chile