Seashells As Currency

by Kathy K McClellan

Title

Seashells As Currency

Artist

Kathy K McClellan

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

Description

Seashells As Currency by Kathy K. McClellan is a photograph image created for Day One of the three day Personal Art Challenge (Theme: Wealth).

For this challenge I am using this definition of wealth: Goods and resources having value in terms of exchange or use.

Shell money has been used by native peoples all over the world as currency. Archaeologists believe that shell money could have been in use as early as 1200 B.C.

Although they are not as common today there are still countries that use particular shells as currency, including Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

The Monetaria moneta, also known as the money cowry, the small sea snail species were extensively used as currency in various countries in Africa, Australia and Asia.

In many areas of the world seashells were used to make jewelry that was then traded or bartered as a form of currency, including the Eastern United States when jewelry called wampum was traded between the Native Americans and the European settlers.

Uploaded

August 11th, 2023

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