THE ARCHEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK 455 



called Busycon). From the purple spot in the clam shell flat pieces 

 were broken and ground into long octagons. Drilling was then com- 

 menced and afterward the tube ground into a cylinder which was cut 

 into segments that were finished as beads. Great care and skill was 

 exercised to make purple wampum and its value was from two to 

 ten times that of white wampum. The columellae of the Pyrula fur- 

 nished a natural tube for beads. It was perforated and ground down, 

 then cut into beads, and finally the beads were made uniform and 

 given a polish. Frequently individual beads were drilled from the 

 small cylinders cut from the shell. Wliite beads being easier to make 

 were valued at only one half that of the purple. In aboriginal times 

 before the coming of Europeans wampum was much scarcer than 

 after the dawn of the colonial period. As the middle period 

 approached (1687), wampum manufacture by both whites and 

 Indians had reached its maximum. There were bushels of it in use 

 both for the manufacture of ceremonial belts and for coin. Wam- 

 pum in strings was used as currency both by the whites and the 

 Indians, and as late as 17 12 was receivable for goods and for ferry 

 fare between Manhattan island and Brooklyn. 



With the aid of simple machinery from five to nearly a dozen 

 strings of wampum, each a span in length, could be produced by a 

 workman in one day. Each white span had a value of about 12^ 

 cents. Discoidal wampum consisted of several sizes of discoid beads, 

 each size conforming to a certain standard, and drilled in the center. 

 Many small discoid beads, some quite perfect circles, have been 

 found in graves that appear in every way to be prehistoric. Dis- 

 coidal wampum varied from sizes having a diameter of one- fourth 

 to three-fourths of an inch. Cylindrical wampum varies froJm less 

 than one-eighth to more than three-sixteenths of an inch in 

 diameter. 



The name wampum comes from the New England Algonkin 

 warn p urn peak. Both parts of this word were used, w^ampum and 

 peag or peak. The entire original word means " a string of (white) 

 shell beads." Other terms were used, as, for example, " sewant." 

 Some traders imitated shell wampum by making or obtaining 

 counterfeits of porcelain. Bad wampum caused considerable trouble 

 in the New Amsterdam money markets and rigid laws were passed 

 governing the use, condition and value of the beads. Much has been 

 written on the subject of wampum. Consult Beauchamp, Bulletin 

 41, New York State Museum; Bulletin 30, Bur. Am. Eth., Vol. 2, 

 ITewitt, page 909 ; Woodward, Wampum : Weeden, Johns Hopkins 



