Furthermore, there is solid archaeological evidence for the trade of Spondylus shells, which can be gathered between the Gulf of Guayaquil in Ecuador and the Gulf of Mexico, in the Andean highlands during the Chavín culture.
A common object for offerings, as well as one used by artisans, was the shell of the Spondylus shellfish, which live only in the warm coastal waters off present-day Ecuador.
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Spondylus shells were also highly valued and traded by the Chimú.
The award from the festival is called "Trophy Spondylus", which consists of a stylized statue of a Spondylus, a marine mollusk widely used in the pre-Columbian art of Peru.
The genus Spondylus originated in the Mesozoic era and can be found it fossil forms can be found in Cretaceous rocks in the Fort Worth Formation of Texas and in the Trent River Formation of Vancouver, as well as other parts of North America.