Ceremonial knife (tumi) with figural finial,

1470–1532

<p>The Incas amassed one of the largest empires in the world in their time. Their expansion was facilitated by their tremendous network of roads, which allowed for the movement of people and goods. This <em>tumi</em> knife bears the material evidence of these migrations: while the precious metals used for the handle and blade likely were mined high in the Andes, many of the small inlays within the metal were cut from seashells from the Pacific. The most precious of these were the orange-pink shells from spiny oysters, known as Spondylus, harvested in the distant, warmer waters of Ecuador.</p> <p><strong>Andrew Hamilton</strong>, <em>Lecturer, Art History and Archaeology</em></p>