I just returned from a few weeks driving through a lot of Peru and I picked up some nice minerals along the way and figured I’d share if anyone is interested. Peru not be at the level of Brazil when it comes to exotic minerals, but they have some really nice ones. I got them form tiny, roadside market stalls, and didn’t bother asking what they were (my Spanish is sub-Kindergarden level), but many are sort of proto-typical endemic Peruvian stones, eg the big opal, the brown/black obsidians, the calcites/fluorites, the pyrite, and the hot pink agate. Pics don’t do them justice, they are quite cool, IMHO.
The small, flat ones with the holes are, I’m pretty sure, a form of ancient shell money, which was pretty widespread, interestingly not only in the Americas, but also the Levant, Oceana, and many other regions. Usually such shell money, where not cowrie or other types from the Maldives, were flat and pierced like this, made from abalone or other sea shells. I’m guessing on this, of course, but I have some examples from the Levant that I know are authentic bases on source/provenance, and they are quite identical, but made from what are probably mediterranean or Red Sea shells. Kinda interesting to me, Peru is a super ancient and highly important place in human history (with killer food) and I’m sort happy I had the opportunity to visit.