72 Shells as evidence of the Migrations. 



the Mediterranean, spreading from there to India, China, 

 and other places, and was found by Columbus to exist 

 among the inhabitants of the New World. 



In previous papers attention has been called to the 

 intimate association which exists between the special 

 appreciation of pearls and the geographical distribution 

 of elements of a culture, including amongst other things, 

 the use of shell-purple for dyeing, and of conch-shells for 

 trumpets. The evidence concerning the spread of these 

 latter cultural elements has already been given, 1 and the 

 object of this chapter is to present some of the facts 

 connected with the distribution of the use of pearls and 

 pearl-shell. 



The remarkable manner in which the sources of pearls 

 and pearl-shell coincide with the distribution of megalithic 

 structures has been emphasised by Mr. W. J. Perry in his 

 recently published paper on " The Relationship between 

 the Geographical Distribution of Megalithic Monuments 

 and Ancient Mines." 2 Some further facts in demonstra- 

 tion of this are included in the present communication. 



When the fashion for pearls and pearl-shell was first 

 instituted is not known, but the available evidence 

 suggests that it originated somewhere in the vicinity of 

 Egypt, if not in Egypt itself. From this centre the 

 fashion spread to surrounding nations of antiquity, and at 

 a later time, together with an extraordinary collection of 

 fantastic practices and beliefs, it was carried far and wide, 

 eventually reaching the Far East, Oceania, and the New 

 World. Phoenician influence was undoubtedly largely 

 instrumental in the distribution of the appreciation of the 

 pearl, and in the course of trade these ancient mariners 

 inaugurated extensive pearl-fisheries in many of the places 



1 Chapters I. & II. 



v Manch, Memoirs (Lit. 6 Phil. Soc.), vol. Ix. (1915), No. I. 



