Biographies of brilliance: Pearls, transformations of matter and being, c. AD 1492
- 1 October 1999
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in World Archaeology
- Vol. 31 (2) , 243-257
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.1999.9980444
Abstract
Indigenous peoples of the Americas regarded the positive spiritual and creative power of light to be manifested in many brilliant objects ‐ from iridescent feathers to shiny minerals and metals. By contrast, Europeans valued only a few glittering objects ‐ pearls, emeralds, gold and silver ‐ from a commercial standpoint. By adopting a biographical approach to one of these items ‐ pearls ‐ it is possible to explore the ways in which these earliest of traded objects embodied, bridged and transformed the material, social and imagined worlds of Amerindians and Europeans from AD 1492 onwards.Keywords
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