New York State Museum 
Wee AND SHELL “ARTICLES 
Making wampum 
The use of shells for ornaments and money is so well known that 
no discussion of the subject is required here. The aborigines of 
North America had the common primitive taste, but could not fully 
gratify it till the white man came. Some shells they were able to 
work in a simple way, but few of these have been preserved. Under 
some circumstances they kept well, but they could not withstand 
much exposure. Pearly shells resisted best, while those in which 
lime was the principal element soon lost their polish, and often their 
form. 
The aborigines of the Pacific states had the Dentalium for 
money and ornament, but uséd the iridescent Haliotis toa 
great extent. The Indians of the plains depended mainly on the 
eastern coast for what they used. A few northern shells were avail- 
able, but the material for a large proportion of New York articles 
came from the south Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico. These 
were most in use in the historic period. Few from the southern 
coast which are over 300 years old have been found here. Except 
as beads, shells were little used as ornaments in New York before 
that time. Yet this state was celebrated for the abundance of its 
wampum 250 years ago, partly from the stimulus given to its manu- 
facture by the whites, and partly from the numbers and large size 
of one mollusk, by which it was supplied. 
Venus mercenaria is abundant from Cape Cod to Florida, 
but is rare northward from the former point till the southern shore of 
the Gulf of St Lawrence is reached. It is the round clam or quahog. 
It has been objected that the purple part of this shell is not thick 
enough to make thedarkbeads. This is trueof the clams sent into the 
interior for food, because the younger mollusks are chosen instead 
of those old and tough. To correct this impression, W. W. Tooker 
sent the writer older shells, 4 inches long. Fig. 1 shows one of 
