SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 153 



Pre-Historic California^ 



BY DR. LORENZO G. YATES. 



Aboriginal Shell Money and Ornaments. 



One of the peculiar characteristics which distinguish man- 

 kind is universally developed acquisitiveness, a trait seldom 

 observed among other animals. Ancient history and the oldest 

 remains of man demonstrate this characteristic to have been 

 one of the heritages common to all peoples, under all circum- 

 stances. 



The skeletons of prehistoric man when unearthed by his suc- 

 cessors, are accompanied by the rude and simple personal 

 effects which were buried with the original owners ; the weap- 

 ons and ornaments acquired during life were placed in the 

 grave by surviving friends or family, in order that they might 

 be of service after death, or to relieve the survivors from the 

 unpleasant reminders of departed friends by the sight of their 

 former belongings. Later, as man advanced in civilization and 

 acquired more wealth, his belongings increased in bulk and 

 numbers until it became impossible to bury them all. Then 

 selections were made, and perhaps a favorite weapon, horse, 

 wife or slave was allowed to accompany the dead on his jour- 

 ney to the unknown world. Where cremation was practiced, 

 the property was placed in the fire with the deceased. 



Originally exchanges were made between individuals by bar- 

 tering one thing for another, and one who owned or possessed 

 more of an article of utility or ornament than he required, 

 and being desirous of obtaining some other article which he 

 did not possess, exchanged a portion of his surplus with some 

 other individual who had it to spare. • In time this troublesome 

 method was improved upon by the utilization of some peculiar 

 or rare form of a particular material, which could be carried 

 about the person or transported from place to place, and which 

 came to have a recognized or intrinsic market or purchasing 

 value, for the acquirement of the necessaries and luxuries of 

 life. 



The first authentic history we have of the Ancient Romans 

 using metal for this purpose was about B. C. 400. At that 

 time the ox was the standard of value. Originally the animals 

 were transferred from one owner to another, but this method 

 of trade being inconvenient, irregular masses of bronze repre- 

 senting the value of an ox were used. These were succeeded 

 by bronze imitations of various animals, representing their 

 value. 



■Continned from Page 10 (this volume) No. 1, January, 1904. 



