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Native American Shell Beads

In the past shell beads often had more importance than simple ornamentation, it was often used as currancy by many North American tribes before the arrival of Europeans. Shells were traded inland to people who were not close to the coast. One shell that was heavily traded was dentalium, also called "tusk shells" which are hallow and easily strung. Another heavily traded shell is the abalone shell. Many species of this type were used for beads. But by using the olivella shell as currency the Chumash established a wide trading circle.

The people close to the Pacific Coast had a large wealth of shell material from the ocean. Other sources of seashells for Southwestern tribes were the Gulf of California and the Gulf of Mexico. However, of one hundred species of shell found in the deserts of the Southwest two-thirds came from the Pacific Ocean. Other shells that were popular were oysters, clam shells, mussels and like the abalone, any shell with nacre or an irridescent layer on the inside. The tools used were made of sharp stone, like volcanic glass or quartz. Adhesives were made of asphaltum, a sticky residue from natural oil seeps. Some shells do not require much work to string and then wear or glue onto objects as decoration. But despite this, some artifacts clearly go beyond what was only simple to do.

olivella biplicata shells

Methods Used

The method used depended on what type of bead was being made, but some techniques used were standard. First, the shells are shattered into flat, irregular pieces. Driling holes was done with a hand pump drill. As shown in the picture, When the cross-bar was pressed, the thong would unwind spinning the shaft. ancient hand drill The same technique of twisting a sharpened stone into the shell with out a drill was also used. Another method was to grind a thinner section of the shell with wet fingers on sandstone until a hole appeared. Sandstone was also used to smooth and polish beads. Spire-lopped olivella beads were made this way since the top will scrape off quickly. However, small olivella disks made by the Chumash took much more time. In fact value was ascribed because of this time expenditure.

Chumash olivella shell bead money

Chumash Currency and Heishi

The small olivella disk became the currency of the Chumash, who were very adept traders. The value derived from the amount of labor creating a bead that was less than a centimeter in circumference. It also derived from the fact that the specialists would work on the Channel Islands thus ensuring that the "mint" was secure. Depending on how many times a strand of olivella beads could be wrapped around the hand would determine its value.

Heishi, which is the Hohokom word for shell, was the Southwestern counterpart of the Chumash olivella disk with regards to the time spent making them. One difference in manufacturing them is that they were strung first and then sanded, making a length of beads that felt like a single piece when drawn through through the hand. These beads are still made today in the New Mexico area, only with modern electric sanders and drills.

individual modern heishi beads

Significance of Shell Beads

Ancient shell beads can tell us many things. Stylistic differences over time can be used to build a chronology within an archaeological site. This is especially true of olivella beads where changes in bead types were regular. Trade networks can be established through shell beads. As mentioned before, shell beads have been found in New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho, and Nevada. Above all, the significance of shell beads comes from the appreciation of something taken directly from nature as well as the manufacturing process applied to it. It is something to think about as to why so much time would be spent on something other than food gathering. It comes back to the essential need to beautify our surroundings.



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