pest Bea a M4 ahs
iat Hi ia aN
i tii tit Hi mt ee

rte Hi ey te . fia
©) ra NY Fenny
win ne - ae ot “i

int

Vie

: ee
mae at

ale ie

iat Hit ih ih He
sats ane

Fae
5
estes

Fests
ea yaind
Set
St -

mS

PU fis Hs
ears eA ME f |
sea

BSc
Rand

er

et

} Pa yy it
i weit iit M
on ne ie iy

o

A
f ve

Aan at ME
ie a ! i) ff
#4 Hig iia ine

hea iH seth
itt uN Aen
Pie He

ua iid

-

oe

ae
th bots

rate tae
a4
ier eet

ue riers ae

ne
ty psa

a
aa ia its

a

tstyttt

ft ¢ i ;
iets iad Heat hae Ns o
ee f at
at i hi x a a 3 . ro eS se
cite ; ie a ere be sia a “ig

ata
ae re IT ee cRebuis

in
: ‘i te

if
}

PUBLICATIONS

OF

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL
HISTORY

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SERIES
VOLUMES XIX AND XX

p MUs
qr of i %
NATURAL
HISTORY

CHICAGO, U.S.A.
1929-1939

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS

CONTENTS

VOLUME XIX
PAGE
MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY IN FIELD MUSEUM COLLECTIONS .... . 1
By Albert B. Lewis
VOLUME XX

ARCHAEOLOGY OF SANTA MARTA, COLOMBIA
THE TAIRONA CULTURE

eee eeeneeaeT CNG NIE WORK 1. 6p See hae ge we 1
By J. Alden Mason
Part II, Section 1: OBJECTS OF STONE, SHELL, BONE, AND METAL .. . 131

By J. Alden Mason

Pert elo pees 22 OBJECTS OF POTTERY... 6 6 cc ee te 2738
By J. Alden Mason

; so denn ieewor® 0) eoueiks y wiknll
wou nah

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate I

2
MAKING SHELL MONEY. PONAM, ADMIRALTY ISLANDS

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
FOUNDED BY MARSHALL FIELD, 1893

PUBLICATION 268

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SERIES VoL. XIX, No.

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY

IN
FIELD MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

BY
ALBERT B. LEWIS

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF MELANESIAN ETHNOLOGY

BERTHOLD LAUFER

CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

EDITOR

CHICAGO, U.S. A.
1929

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS

CONTENTS

Pema II TIAtION OL EP IALCS hy ic ge chee ee ene
Melanesian Shell Money in Field Museum Collections.........

TRS Cac ne

LIST AND EXPLANATION OF PLATES

I. Making shell money at Ponam, Admiralty Islands (pp. 13-14).
1. Breaking off the lip of the shell.
2. Grinding disks on end of stick, and grinding and smoothing
string of disks on board.

II. Large shell money rings and stone tools used in their manufacture (p. 10).
1-2. Unfinished rings. Nissan. Cat. Nos. 107649, 106543-4.
3. Finished ring. Nissan. Cat. No. 106543-5.
4. Finished ring. Tanga. Cat. No. 136783.
5. Grinding stone set in bamboo handle. Tanga. Cat. No. 136792.
6. Grinding stone. Tanga. Cat. No. 136790.
7. Stone for boring hole. Tanga. Cat. No. 136786.
8. gcken grinding outside groove in ring. Tanga. Cat. No.
9. Money ring. Vella Lavella, Solomon Islands. Cat. No. 135875.
10. Money ring. Rubiana, Solomon Islands. Cat. No. 89964.

III. ee an and necklace used in trading voyages in eastern New Guinea
p. 11).

1. Arm-ring with black seeds. Normanby Island. Cat. No. 37932.

2. Arm-ring of three pieces, with sapi-sapi. Laughlan Islands. Cat.
No. 105719.

3. Arm-ring of three pieces, with sapi-sapi and beads. Laughlan
Islands. Cat. No. 105721.

4. Bagi. Laughlan Islands. Cat. No. 105724.

IV. Polished ‘“‘gold-lip’”’ pearl shells, with pendants. Southwestern New
Britain (p. 11). Cat. Nos. 137488 and 137490.

VY. Two wood implements used when making shell money. Tami Island,
New Guinea (p. 14).
1. Grinding stick, used as in Plate I. A number of shell disks can
be seen in the lower end. Cat. No. 138445.
7 Poe tater for shells and partly finished disks. Cat. No.

VI. Shell money and disks in various stages of manufacture.
1. Short piece of false money made of shells of Nassa globosa, used
by children (p. 13). Gazelle Peninsula, New Britain.
2. Short piece of tambu (p. 12). Gazelle Peninsula, New Britain.
3. End of string of Nassa shells as prepared for ornaments. South-
west coast, New Britain.
4. a. Shells of Nassa camelus, side and top view.
. Shells with top broken off, ready to be strung as tambu.
. Shells with more of top removed, as used for ornaments.
Same as Fig. 3.
. View of under side.
. Conus shells used for making shell disks (p. 13). Ponam,
Admiralty Islands.
. Shells with base ground down.
. Disks after top or lip is knocked off, bottom view.
. Same, top view.
. Finished disks, top view.

5

le awp

Tcanea

15.
16.
17.
18.

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

. Disks of New Ireland money, No. 1 (p. 17).

a. Top view, showing inside coil of shell.
b. Bottom view.

. Disks of New Ireland money, No. 3 (pp. 17-18).

a. Top view.
b. Bottom view.

. Disks of New Ireland money, No. 5 (pp. 18-19).

. Disks of New Caledonian money ter mawon (p. 33).

. Disks of New Ireland money, No. 6 (p. 19).

. Disks of New Ireland black money, No. 12 (pp. 22-238).

. Shell and different stages in the manufacture of pirr, Duke of

of York Islands (p. 14).

. Different stages in the manufacture of mui, Duke of York Islands.
. Different stages in the manufacture of tapsoka, New Hanover

(pp. 19-20)
a. Pieces of shell showing red areas.
b. Pieces chipped into shape for disks.
ce. Disks ground on both sides and bored, ready to be strung for
grinding of edges.
d. Finished disks.
Disks of New Ireland brown money, No. 8 (p. 20).
Disks of New Ireland red money, No. 11 (p. 22).
Disks of mbiu, Duke of York Islands.
Disks of munbun, Duke of York Islands.

VII. Money strings.
1. Made of Nassa shells and sections of cassowary feather stems.

Southwestern New Britain. Cat. No. 137479.

2-4. Admiralty Islands (p. 14). Cat. Nos. 135196, 135205, 135208.

5.

Tami Island, New Guinea. Cat. No. 138442.

6-7. are ki eastern New Guinea (p. 11). Cat. Nos. 105724,
711.

VIII. Bunches of pele, Duke of York Islands (p. 14). Cat. No. 106053.

L.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Munbun. Cat. No. 106053.

Mui. Cat. No. 106049.

Mbiu, roughly finished. Cat. No. 106051-1.
Mbiu, old, finer finished. Cat. No. 106051-2.
Pirr. Cat. No. 145600.

IX. Strings of pele, Duke of York Islands (p. 14).

—
rH SSeN age whe

i)

. Munbun. Cat. No. 106053.
. Munbun. Cat. No. 106053. ;
. Mui. Cat. No. 145578. Has 3 disks of pirr and several large

black disks.
Mui. Cat. No. 145577. Has been discolored, probably by smoke.
Mui. Cat. No. 145579.
Mui. Cat. No. 145575.
Pirr. Cat. No. 145598.
Pirr. Cat. No. 145594.

. Mbui. Cat. No. 145602. Nicely smoothed.
. Mbui. Cat. No. 145609. Rough finish.

. Pump drill from Duke of York Islands. The chalcedony point

has been lost. Cat. No. 145710.

. Hand drills from New Ireland used in making tapsoka. The

drill point is a piece of quartz or quartz crystal (p. 20). Cat.
Nos. 112965-5, 145570, 112965-1, 112965-3.

. Native money of shell and coconut shell disks (p. 32). Tasman

Island. Cat. No. 106612.

LIST AND EXPLANATION OF PLATES 7

XI. Shell money made from Conus or similar shells. New Ireland.
1. String of No. 1 (p. 17). Cat. No. 106109.

coO~s1D ore CODD

. String of No. 2 (p. 17). Cat. No. 106080.
. Belt of No. 3 (p. 17). Cat. No. 106090.

. Belt of No. 3 (p. 17). Cat. No. 106059.

. String of No. 3 (p. 17). Cat. No. 145508.
. String of No. 4 (p. 18). Cat. No. 106083.
. String of No. 5 (p. 18). Cat. No. 145505.
. String of No. 5 (p. 18). Cat. No. 145506.

XII. Shell money made from bored disks. New Ireland.

~ *
oO O10 & oe

. String of No. 6 (p. 19). Cat. No. 106107.
. Belt made of whitish disks similar to No. 6, and black disks like

No. 12. Cat. No. 145475.

. Collar of white and red disks (p. 19). Cat. No. 145476.
. Strings of tapsoka, No. 7 (pp. 19-20). Cat. No. 106148.
. String of brown disks with true tapsoka in center.

. String of kokonon, No. 8 (p. 20). Cat. No. 106091.

. Part of above string showing white and red disks.

. String of No. 8 (p. 20). Cat. No. 145511.

XIII. Bored and mixed varieties of shell money. New Ireland.

XIV.
XV.

XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.

XXiI.

Oo ANAT wWYe

. Red money No. 9 (pp. 21-22). Cat. No. 106085.
. Red money No. 10 (p. 22). Cat. No. 145459.

. Red money No. 10 (p. 22). Cat. No. 98815.

. Red money No. 11 (p. 22). Cat. No. 106097.

Black money No. 12 (pp. 22-23). Cat. No. 137731.

. Black and white money No. 13 (p. 23). Cat. No. 106082.
. Black and white disks on end of string of white money No. 2.

Cat. No. 106080.

Mixed money, kokonon luluai, No. 14 (pp. 23-24). Cat. No.
145468.

. Mixed money, kokonon luluai, No. 14 (pp. 23-24). Cat. No.
145458.

. Mixed money, No. 15 (p. 24). Cat. No. 106106-2.

. Mixed money, No. 15 (p. 24). Cat. No. 106106-1.

. Same as above, another part of string.

. Section A, d, of birok (p. 28). Cat. No. 136994.

. Portion of birok with disks set edge to edge (p. 25). Cat. No.

15-16.

136994.
Portions near end of section E of birok. Cat. No. 112212 (p. 29).

Pig money, birok, in bark cloth wrapper. Southern New Ireland.

Pig money, birok, spread out to show the different sections. Southern
New Ireland (p. 28). Cat. No. 136994.

Pig money. Southern New Ireland. Cat. No. 136995.
Pig money. Southern New Ireland (pp. 28-29). Cat. No. 112212.
Pig money. Southern New Ireland. Cat. No. 136992.
Pig money. Southern New Ireland. Cat. No. 136990.

Manum. Northern New Ireland. Two mixed sections are shown on each
side of the pendant (p. 30). Cat. No. 106104.

Manum. Northern New Ireland. Portions of the string of disks are
shown on each side (p. 30). Cat. No. 98553.

8 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

XXII. Three manum pendants. Northern New Ireland (pp. 30-31). Cat. Nos.
106100, 106101, 106108.

XXIII. Shell money from the Solomon Islands.
1. Biruan. Northern Bougainville (p. 31). Cat. No. 106544.
2. White shell money. Bougainville (p. 31). Cat. No. 106269.
3. Part of above showing red disks.
4. Red money. Bougainville (pp. 31-32). Cat. No. 106357.
6. Portions of above showing mixed sections.

7. End of red money string from eastern Solomons, showing strip

of bark used as string. Cat. No. 89932.

8. White money. Malaita (p. 32). Cat. No. 89933.

9. Part of above with seeds.
10. String band with shell disks (p. 32). Cat. No. 37287.

XXIV. New Caledonian money, most valuable sort (p. 33).
1. Cat. No. 1382598-1.
2. Cat. No. 132597-2.

XXV. New Caledonian money.
i. Mes money of the Loyalty Islands (p. 34). Cat. No.
7267.
PAs ekiane sort. Northern New Caledonia (p. 34). Cat. No.

3. Common money of intermediate value, showing ornament on
one end of string (p. 33). Cat. No. 1382597-1.

4. Poe or wrapper in which shell money is kept. Cat. No.
132597-3.

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY
IN
FIELD MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

In the present paper I have aimed to describe and figure the
different kinds of Melanesian shell money in Field Museum. While
the collections are extensive, they are by no means complete; but
the more important gaps have been briefly referred to in the text,
so this article may be regarded as a general account of the shell
money of that region. The material on which it is based includes,
besides the literature consulted and the Museum’s collections, infor-
mation and specimens obtained by myself during four years’ (1909-13)
travel and sojourn in many parts of Melanesia. I bought a
number of specimens from the natives themselves, but important
material from the Admiralty Islands, New Ireland, and Tanga was
purchased from Mr. Komini, a Japanese planter who had lived a
number of years in New Ireland and the Admiralty Islands.

Of the shell money obtained from other sources the most impor-
tant is that collected by Richard Parkinson, who spent many years
in the region. Dr. George A. Dorsey, in 1909, collected a number of
specimens. Others were obtained from Captain H. Voogdt, who as
captain of the New Guinea Company’s steamer became familiar with
a large part of the former German colony. Some money strings from
the Solomons were collected about 1895 by Mr. W. Preston Harrison,
and presented by him to the Museum. A few specimens from eastern
Melanesia came with a collection which was obtained in 1893 from
Mr. J. G. Peace of Noumea, New Caledonia. There are also a number
of other specimens obtained from various sources, the actual collec-
tors being in many cases unknown.

Shells or pieces of shells variously formed and arranged have been
used as money or at least as a standard of value and exchange in
many parts of the world, and in a few regions are still in use. In
some cases such money, as for example the cowrie, is widely known
and used over great stretches of territory. In other cases the use
of a particular kind of shell money is limited to a small area, beyond
which it has little or no value. Such was the case in Melanesia,
where many different kinds of shell money have been found.’ Most
of the money here used has the form of small disks or beads arranged

9

10 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

in strings, the value depending on the kind of disk and the length of
the string. This is not always the case, however, as in some places
large shell rings were manufactured and used as payment in certain
important transactions. These were very highly valued. Such shell
rings made from Tridacna shell are found in the Central Solomon
Islands,” (Plate II, Figs. 9 and 10), Tanga’ (Plate II, Fig. 4), and
Nissan‘ (Plate II, Fig. 3).

These rings are not the same as arm-rings, nor are they used for
that purpose, though shell arm-rings are frequently used as a medium
of exchange. The best Tanga arm-rings would in New Ireland buy
a wife or one or two large pigs, and the finest pieces of money (angfat)
had an equal or even greater value. Tanga was probably the most
important center for the manufacture of these rings. Schlaginhaufen
(Globus, Vol. 94, p. 168) mentions finding several workshops or
factories where such rings were made. Field Museum possesses in
the collection made by Komini a set of the stone implements used,
with numerous rings of all sizes and kinds. The piece of shell, after
being roughly pounded into shape, was bored by twisting it back
and forth on the end of the grinding stone (Plate II, Fig. 7). This
was firmly held in place by being fastened in the end of a piece of
bamboo set in the ground. When pierced so a smaller stone could
be inserted, the hole was enlarged with a small stone set in a piece
of bamboo (Plate II, Fig. 5) and finally smoothed with a long round
grinding stone (Plate II, Fig. 6). The outside was ground into
shape on a flat stone, and the groove or grooves put in by rubbing
it on the thin beveled edge of a large flat piece of stone which had
been cut and ground to the proper shape (Plate II, Fig. 8).

For Nissan the method as described by Parkinson (p. 495) is
first, after the piece of shell has been pounded and ground roughly
into shape, to peck a depression in each side as deep as possible
with hard pieces of stone or shell (Plate II, Fig. 1). By grinding
or boring with a piece of pumice set in the end of a bamboo stick
the depressions are deepened (Plate II, Fig. 2) until they finally meet.

1Shell money has almost disappeared from most of Melanesia. Some of the
common kinds are still to be found in places, and in a few localities may still be
in use. Especially is this the case when its use is associated with long established
customs and ceremonies.

2See especially Schneider, pp. 78-82, also Finsch, pp. 81, 90-92.

3Parkinson, pp. 303-304. In the Museum collections are many heavy rings
used as money, as well as numerous arm-rings, and a set of the different stone
implements used in their manufacture.

4Krause, pp. 137-139; Parkinson, pp. 495 -496, Plate XX XV. All thespecimens
illustrated on Plate XXXV are now in Field Museum.

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY 11

Shell arm-rings of Tridacna shell are also manufactured on the
small islands of Seleo and Angel in Berlin Harbor. Here the hole is
made by boring with a hollow bamboo, sand, and water, so that a
center core is cut out, leaving a smooth round hole. The natives of
these islands use the rings to buy sago from the people on the main-
land. One ring will purchase 500 to 1000 pounds of sago meal, their
most important article of food. One man refused to sell me a partly
finished ring for any price, as he said he needed it to buy food for
his family for the coming rainy season.

In southeastern New Guinea shell arm-rings made from a large
Conus shell form one of the most valued possessions a native can
have (Plate III, Fig. 1). Malinowski has described the peculiar
position they hold in the trading voyages of the eastern archipelago.
They are also carried by trade as far west as the Papuan Gulf. As
many of them are too small to be used as arm-rings, they may be
regarded as a form of money. Sometimes they are made of three
or four pieces of shell fastened together (Plate III, Figs. 2 and 3).

Associated with these rings in the trading transactions of the
eastern islanders was another kind of valuable (Plate III, Fig. 4)
called bagi, made largely of red shell disks known as sapi-sapi. These
disks were used extensively for ornaments, but strings of them also
served as money (Plate VII, Fig. 7).

Throughout southeastern New Guinea red shell disks were highly
valued for ornaments, and were used especially in making the
valuable necklaces characteristic of this region. White disks were
not so common, though they are often found mixed with the red in
the money strings and necklaces, and on arm bands (see Plate III).
These white disks are all nicely ground and bored, and are similar
to the red except in color. Sapi-sapi was manufactured in several
places in eastern New Guinea, especially in the Trobriands. Red or
reddish disks were also formerly made in two places near Port
Moresby, and while used chiefly for ornaments, were often strung
and used as money (Finsch, pp. 52-57. Compare also Malinowski,
pp. 506-507). An interesting use of shell money in Rossel Island has
recently been described by Armstrong.

Nicely polished pearl shells were highly valued for ornaments
in many places. In southwestern New Britain a shell of the golden
yellow variety (“gold-lip’’) was especially valued, had pendants of a
certain kind attached to it, and served as money in important
transactions (Plate IV).

12 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Another form of shell money is the tambu or diwarra' current in
the Gazelle Peninsula of Northern New Britain (Plate VI, Fig. 2).
This consists of the basal part of a small shell ( Nassa camelus) strung
on long strips of rattan. This shell is somewhat pointed on top like
a camel’s hump, and this hump is knocked off so the rattan may be
passed through the base piece (Plate VI, Fig.4a and b). The rattan
is of such size that the shells fit rather tightly. A little space is
usually left between them. The rattan strips can thus be broken
into any length to make change. The unit value is the length of the
outstretched arms from finger tip to finger tip. According to
Parkinson (p. 88), it contains, or should contain, about 320 shells.
This length is called a pokono. Fractions of this, as one-half, one-
quarter, and one-eighth, have separate names. For smaller values
the shells are usually counted, and the name is determined by the
number of shells.

When first made the pieces of rattan are spliced together, making
one long string which is coiled into a roll about the size of a small
automobile tire. There may be from 100 to 500 fathoms, or even
more, in one of these rolls. The coil is wrapped carefully with
banana leaves, over which a rattan cover is often woven. The rolls
are kept and guarded in a special treasure house, which corresponds
in a way to the village bank; or the owner may keep his rolls in
some small concealed hut or hiding place deep in the forest. These
rolls represent the capital of the owner, and are not broken up
except on very special occasions. For daily or ordinary use small
coils and pieces of tambu are kept in a basket in the hut. This tambu
or diwarra is the best known of all Melanesian shell money, and has
been referred to and described by many writers, especially Danks,
Schneider, Parkinson and Finsch. Its use, however, is limited to
the Gazelle Peninsula, and especially that part of which’ Blanche
Bay is the center. Nassa shells are used in many other places,
especially on the southwest coast of New Britain, in Huon Gulf,
and in several other places onthe coast of New Guinea; but they
are used chiefly as ornament—seldom as money. Also more of the
top is knocked off, so that the basal part that is left is fairly thin
and even, and when strung they fit close together on a pliable
fiber cord (Plate VI, Figs. 8 and 4c). Such shells are used exten-
sively as surface ornaments on forehead bands, belts, leg and arm
bands, breast ornaments, string bags, and many other objects.

1Called diwara on Duke of York Islands and New Ireland, tambu on New
Britain.

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY 13

Usually a second hole is punched in the base, so they can be fastened on
like buttons. In southwestern New Britain they are often strung alter-
nating with short pieces of the stem of the cassowary feather (Plate
VII, Fig. 1), and in this form may serve as money as well as ornament.

One interesting development from tambu has taken place around
Blanche Bay. Tambu itself is too valuable to be used as a play-
thing, so the children make a sort of false or imitation money
(Plate VI, Fig. 1) out of another shell (Nassa globosa) to use in their
play, which consists largely in imitating their elders’ activities. With
this, according to Romilly (p. 25), they drive “as hard bargains
with each other as their fathers would do with the genuine article.”

New Ireland was the chief center for shell money made out of
small shell disks or beads. In New Britain and westward the making
of these small disks was limited to a few localities, and while traded
to other regions in small amounts, their use was chiefly, in most
places entirely, for ornaments. Two of the best-known and most
productive manufacturing centers are Tami Island in Huon Gulf,
and certain small islands in the Admiralty Group, especially Ponam.
In both these places small Conus or similar shells are used, so the
disks do not need to be bored. The process as observed in 1911
at Ponam was as follows: The small shell (Plate VI, Fig. 5a) was
first placed in a hole in the end of a short stick so that the base
projected. Such a stick may be seen lying in the right-hand tray
in Plate I. The base of the shell was ground off on a large smooth
stone so that the central cavity was exposed (Plate VI, Fig. 5b).
The shell was then taken out, and a short piece of the midrib of a
palm leaf stuck tightly in the hole, so the shell could be held in
position, while the lip was broken off, leaving a rather thick disk,
smooth on one side and rough on the other (Plate VI, Figs. 5c and
5d). To break off the lip a piece of a large rather thin, but solid,
bivalve shell was used (see Plate I, Fig. 1). The rough side of the
disks was ground down by placing a number of them in shallow
holes in the end of a short round stick, and rubbing them down
on the grinding stone (Plate I, Fig. 2). The disks were then strung
on a piece of rattan into a string several feet long. The string was
stretched out on a long flat board (from an old canoe), and the ends
tied tightly so as to hold it in place. It was then rubbed lengthwise
with a piece of coral rock (Plate I, Fig. 2), thus smoothing and
rounding the disks, and grinding them to an even size. Each opera-
tion was performed by a different worker; and the partly finished
disks, after each worker was through with them, were thrown into

14 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

flat wooden trays where they accumulated till taken out for the
next operation (Plate I). Strings of these disks (Plate VII, Figs.
2 and 3) were used as money, and had a standard value (Parkinson,
p. 390; Eichhorn, p. 261). On the main island they were strung with
the lower incisor teeth of the flying phalanger (Plate VII, Fig. 4)
and apparently used in this form as money, as well as ornament.

From information and specimens obtained from G. Bamler of”
Tami, the method there is much the same, except that the pro-
jecting lip of the shell is knocked off with a small stone before the
base is ground down, and both sides are smoothed by placing the
disks in shallow depressions in the large round grinding stick (Plate
V). The disks are strung on shorter strings and rounded by being
rubbed back and forth with the flat of the hand on a stone. Accord-
ing to Bamler, these disks (Plate VII, Fig. 5) are not traded to the
mainland of New Guinea, but to Siassi and New Britain.

The Duke of York Islands, lying between New Britain and New
Ireland, were an important center for the manufacture of shell-
disk money of the bored variety. This was called pele! and was
put up in short strings tied together in bunches (Plate VIII) for
trade. In old times these strings were about 25 cm long, and the
disks nicely smoothed and rounded. In more recent times the
strings are shorter, and the disks only roughly finished (Plate VIII,
Figs. 83 and 4, and Plate IX, Figs. 9 and 10). There are several
different kinds of pele with separate names, depending on the variety
of shell from which the disks are made. Four of the more important
varieties are pirr, made from the top of the shells of Cypraeaannulus L.
and C. moneta L.; mbiu, made chiefly from Modiola plumescens
Dunk; mui, made from pieces of the rather thick walls of Strombus
luhuanus L., and munbun, made from Chrysostoma paradoxum Born.
These are illustrated in Plates VIII and IX, while pieces of the shells
and upper and lower surfaces of the disks are shown in Plate VI,
Figs. 12, 18,17 and 18. As all the shells are relatively thin, the
disks are not ground on the sides but only on the edges, and both
the inner and outer original surfaces may be seen on the disks.
A pump drill (Plate X, Fig. 1), with a pointed sliver of flint or chal-
cedony tied on the bottom for a drill-point, was used to make the
holes. The strings used are made of fiber from the aerial roots of
the Pandanus. The work was done by the women.

1The article a, often written as a prefix to these names, is in this paper omitted.
On the manufacture and use of pele see Schneider, pp. 52-54; Ribbe, pp. 158-164;
Finsch, pp. 32-38; and Parkinson, pp. 90-91.

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY 15

Pele, as put up in the Duke of York Islands, was not used as
money, though the strings had a recognized standard value. It
was traded partly to New Ireland, but chiefly to the New Britain
natives around Blanche Bay, who used it to buy Nassa shells from
the natives of the Nakanai coast to the west, where it was highly
valued but apparently used largely for ornament. In New Ireland
it was evidently used for money. Disks of pirr, munbun, and lillie
(made of pieces of Nautilus pompilius) can be easily recognized
because of their color and structure, and stretches of these disks are
often met with in specimens of birok, the “‘pig-money”’ of southern
New Ireland (see pp. 28-29).

The chief centers, however, for the manufacture of shell money,
or rather the shell disks used as money, were in the many small
islands lying off the coast of New Ireland. The process of manu-
facture has been observed in a few places, but usually we know of
the source only by native reports. Where the money is found in
circulation, the natives declare they obtain it from some other
place, which may or may not be the place where it was made. Usu-
ally it is found to have come from a distance, and the original source
is unknown. One can safely say, however, that the greater part, if
not all, of the shell disks, whether used as money or not, are made
on small islands off the mainland, or on large islands where there is
not much arable land, and where consequently the women not only
have plenty of time for this work, but also need some article of trade
in order to buy vegetable food. The people may have been driven
from the neighboring coast by inland tribes, and have made their
home on these small islands for the sake of safety. This is certainly
true of the small island of Auki off the southwest coast of Malaita
in the Solomon Islands. This is one of the chief centers for the
manufacture of shell money in the eastern Solomons. The village
covers almost the whole of the island, and the inhabitants must
obtain their vegetable food from the mainland people. Although
constantly at war, there are regular market days when a truce is
declared, and the people meet in some neutral spot on the mainland
shore where the women carry on a brisk trade, while the armed
men of both sides stand around and carefully watch the proceedings.
There is seldom any infringement of the truce at these markets,
though at other times they would attack each other on sight.

The great number of these small islands off New Ireland may be
one reason for the great variety of shell money found there. Different
writers have mentioned and described many different kinds under

16 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

many different names. Some can be identified on comparison with
the Museum specimens, and many cannot. Finsch’s discussion of
New Ireland money illustrates the same difficulty. Also we do not
know what the names mean. Some, as in the Duke of York Islands,
may be simply the names of the shells from which the disks are
made. A few of the varieties and names seem to be fairly well known
and used over considerable areas. Parkinson (p. 302) says that the
names of the different kinds vary greatly in the different districts,
and that there are also many varieties of money strings. The disks
vary greatly in size, color, and arrangement on the string, each
kind of a string having a different value and a special name.

The question might be raised as to whether these strings of shell
disks are money or not. Some of them we know to have had a
standard value and to have served as a medium of exchange. So
far as known, the others were used the same way. They are all
put up in strings, and seldom made into ornaments. The only
ornaments at all common are belts made of several strings of disks
fastened together. These are found chiefly in southern New Ireland
and the small islands to the eastward.

The value of this shell-disk money depends on the color and
workmanship. Small red disks were the most valuable, and also
the rarest. Red disks are seldom found alone, but short stretches
of them are mixed with other colors, chiefly white—the more red,
the greater the value of the string. Often there is a more or less
definite arrangement, as in tapsoka (No. 7, p. 19). The value
varied also with the locality. Early writers differ greatly in com-
paring the value of native money with European money. This is
to be expected, as the natives’ ideas of the value of European articles
changed as these became more common.' Pigs are perhaps as good '
for comparative values as anything, though the pig is much more
valued by the natives than by us when we estimate its value in
vegetable food. In northern New Ireland one pig was worth six to
seven strings of tapsoka (Finsch, p. 40). Danks says there was a
kind of money in New Ireland which had the value of one large
pig. This was doubtless birok (p. 24). Danks has given us the value
of various native articles in amounts of the New Britain tambu,
but for New Ireland money we have no such information.

1J have had a native of New Guinea refuse the best quality steel axe in exchange
for his stone axe, while in another region a similar stone axe might be bought for
a stick of tobacco or a few fishhooks. In another place a large, finely ornamented
wooden shield was gladly given for less than half a thimbleful of vermilion.

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY 17

The shell money of New Ireland in Field Museum will be described
under three general divisions: the varieties made from Conus
or similar shells, in which the base of the shell is used with its natural
opening; those made of shell disks which have the hole bored, being
made of pieces of both bivalves and univalves, either ground down
on the sides or of pieces so thin that they need no grinding; and
those made of different kinds of disks, which are often arranged
according to a definite plan.

While we cannot be sure how the natives classified them, at least
five different varieties can easily be distinguished under the first
division.

(1) A long string (Plate XI, Fig. 1) of fairly uniform bluish
white disks (Plate VI, Fig. 6) averaging 4 mm in diameter and some-
what over 1 mm thick (7-8 per cm). They are strung on a well
twisted native cord, which has broken, the longest piece being 230
cm long. About every 20 cm are two large black ribbed seeds 5-6
mm in diameter, separated by about 1 cm of the shell disks. This
specimen was collected by Parkinson, and has his original label
marked “Money (Tomanabung) north end New Ireland, St. Matthias
and parts of New Hanover.” It does not seem to correspond exactly
to any of the varieties mentioned by Schneider or Finsch.

(2) A string (Plate XI, Fig. 2) 80 em long of white to grayish
disks, somewhat similar to the above but smaller and of a different
shade of white. The average diameter is about 3 mm, varying
irregularly from 2144 to 4 mm. The string is a light colored, loosely
twisted native cord of rather fine fibres (Pandanus). According to
Parkinson this specimen comes from near Cape St. Marie, on the
southeast coast. No name is given for it, but it seems to correspond
to the kabong of Finsch. As is the case with his specimens, it contains
a few reddish brown disks (bored).

At one end of this string is a section 10 cm long of smaller
(214-3 mm diameter) and thinner disks in alternating dark brown and
white areas of about 1 cm each. Both kinds are bored, hence entirely
different from the rest of the string.

(8) From the northeast coast come a number of strings (Plate XI,
Fig. 5) 70-75 ecm long, with disks (Plate VI, Fig. 7) 2144-3 mm
diameter, varying in shade from a light brownish or dirty white to
a light rose pink. Some of the strings are very uniform in size and
color, others much mixed. The disks vary considerably in thickness,
but average eight to ten to the centimeter, though in one small

18 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

pinkish string they run fifteen to eighteen to the centimeter. The
pinkish or reddish disks are generally smaller and thinner than the
white. The strings are merely bunches of a rather fine fiber, the
ends beyond the disks being a three-stranded plait, usually with
some extra fiber added. Often the ends of several strings are plaited
together.

Most of these strings are from the Parkinson collection, but no
name is attached to them. From the west coast near Cape Givry,
however, comes a girdle (Plate XI, Fig. 3) of 16 strings of similar
disks, also varying from a dirty white to a very light red or pink,
which Parkinson’s label says is made of the money called linderan.
Another girdle (Plate XI, Fig. 4) from southern New Ireland is
made entirely of the light pinkish disks, very uniform in size and
appearance. Judging from his illustrations, this is the same as the
linderan found in the south by Stephan (Stephan and Graebner,
p. 68; also Plate III, Figs.27 and 28). Probably the name refers to
the color rather than the material. Part, possibly all of the varieties
of baw as described by Schneider (p. 57) are included here, and also
the kemekass and kokonon, second variety, given by Finsch (p. 48).

Most of these probably came from the small islands to the east,
especially Tanga and Caens, and it is not unlikely that the natives
distinguish more than one kind, particularly the white and pink,
as in some strings there will be an area of uniform pink disks in an
otherwise uniformly white string. In most of the strings, however,
they are irregularly mixed, and with various intermediate shades.

(4) Somewhat similar to the above is a very uniform string
(Plate XI, Fig. 6) of small ivory-white disks, 114 mm in diameter
and running about nine to the centimeter. It is 177 cm long with
a section 1 cm long at each end of alternate white disks and small
black seeds (same as kokonon luluai, see p. 23). Parkinson’s label
gives this as from the southeast coast, but no name is attached.
Another string (98817) is of the same kind of disks. These are prob-
ably the same as Schneider’s No. 8.

(5) There are also a number of strings (such as those illustrated
on Plate XI, Figs. 7 and 8) of a uniform medium gray, much darker
than those under No. 3 and many of them smaller but otherwise
similar (2-3 em diameter). A few disks show slight brownish or
reddish tints. Most of the strings are 70-75 cm long, strung on the
same kind of string as No. 3. In one case eight strings have their
ends plaited together. Two of the strings are longer (162 and 166
cm) and strung on a small, fine, tightly twisted cord.

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY 19

No definite location is given for this variety, but a belt of ten
strings from the northeast coast has the central part (about one-
fourth) of all the strings made of the reddish variety of No. 38,
while the remainder of the strings is of this gray variety, the two
kinds being sharply marked off by a small black reed placed on the
string between them. This variety is doubtless the same as
Schneider’s titpele.

Several different kinds of bored disks may be distinguished in
the money from New Ireland. Of these the following (Nos. 6-12)
represent distinct varieties.

(6) A string (Plate XII, Fig. 1) 177 cm long, of grayish white
disks (Plate VI, Fig. 10), some with a very slight tint of purple or
pink, fairly uniform but varying between 2 and 4 mm in diameter.
It comes from the northeast coast (Parkinson). These disks are
somewhat lighter in shade than those in the women’s belts from
Tanga, of which there are a number in the Museum. There is also
a similar belt (Plate XII, Fig. 2) from the west coast of New Ireland.
In all these there are also stretches of dark brown disks (No. 10,
p. 22). The white disks are not all uniform, either in size or color,
and are evidently from more than one kind of shell. They seem to
correspond, however, to the ninomaz of Finsch (p. 44) and the
tikutkut of Schneider (p. 57). The cord used for the money string
and the belts is the same. It is made of two strands of fine fiber
tightly twisted together.

In the collections are two (Cat. Nos. 89532 and 145476) short
belts or collars, with no definite locality given, but probably from
this general region. They are 28 cm and 30 cm long, very similar
in appearance, and made of the same kind of white and red shell
disks, with some black seeds. The white disks are similar to those
in the string, but larger and a lighter gray without the pinkish
tints. The cord is a bunch of straight or slightly twisted fibers.
The disks, both white and red, are not exactly the same as any
others from New Ireland, so may be from some other region
(Plate XII, Fig. 3).

The following two kinds are somewhat similar, and seem to be
made out of the same sort of material.

(7) The most valuable is that usually known as tapsoka in
northern New Ireland. The six strings (Plate XII, Figs. 4-6) in
the Parkinson collection vary from 46 to 65 cm in length, and are
strung on native cord. The disks are from 3 to 5 mm in diameter,
though those in each string are fairly uniform. The smaller disks

20 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

are much smoother and better finished than the larger. The average

number is twelve to fourteen to the centimeter. In addition to .

being very roughly finished, the disks are often incomplete, as if
made out of old and weather-worn pieces of shell. The color is
either a medium brown or red, or a semi-transparent white. On
the string disks of red and white are arranged in alternate sections
one or more cm in length. Brown disks are also fairly common.
Sometimes the same disk shows more than one color. This is readily
understood from the fact that the disks are made out of the broken
pieces of a large shell which is white on the inside, shading into reds
and browns on the outside and toward the lip. There are a number
of such pieces, with disks in various stages of manufacture (Plate
VI, Fig. 14), in the Museum’s collections. They are also described
and figured by Schneider (pp. 54-55 and Plate V). Parkinson
(p. 801) says tapsoka is manufactured in several small islands off
the coast of New Hanover, the drill (Plate X, Fig. 2) used being a
thin stick whirled between the hands instead of the usual pump
drill. Parkinson’s label gives lolot and telemai as other names for
tapsoka. Hahl gives lolat as the name in central New Ireland for
tapsoka, and says it came from northern New Ireland by way of
Gardiner and Lihir islands.

(8) The other kind which is in some ways similar to tapsoka is
somewhat smaller (2-4 mm diameter) and of a fairly uniform medium
dark brown with reddish tints (Plate VI, Fig. 15). In the Parkinson
collection (Plate XII, Figs. 8-9) are two strings (168 and 176 em
respectively) labeled ‘‘money (kokonon and tingerip)—central part
of New Ireland.” There are also in the Museum collections a number
of similar strings (Plate XII, Fig. 10) from near Cape Givry, besides
a few not definitely located. Most of the strings are fairly uniform
in size (average 214 mm) and color, but occasionally there are areas
of reddish or of red and white disks very similar to tapsoka, except
smaller.

This brown money is apparently the same as Finsch’s mangin
or alanget (arangit?) which he says is the same as the best grade
of kokonon. It is the same as the mangin of Dr. Hahl which he
says is known on the west coast as arangit, and comes apparently
from Tanga. Fellman (Mitt. Sem. Orient. Sprachen, Vol. V, p. 93,
note) says arangit has a reddish brown color, and is the common
shell money in the central part of New Ireland. It is worth 50
to 75 cents per fathom (about 124 meters). Schneider’s arangit is
probably the same, though the value given by Schneider from

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY A

Ribbe (14-14 m = 10 fathoms diwarra = 2 hogs) as found in certain
places in southern New Ireland, is clearly not in accord with the
value of ordinary arangit in the central part of the island. Schneider’s
tingerib, though corresponding to one of Parkinson’s names, is
evidently another sort. It may be that this name, as used by
Parkinson, applies to the red disks only, but even these are not
the same as Schneider’s tingerib. All the strings are native, con-
sisting merely of a loosely twisted strand of rather fine fibers, which
in some of the specimens are decidedly brittle. In tapsoka the
strings are small two-stranded twisted cords of a different material.
These two kinds usually appear quite distinct, but there is nothing
to show that the brown kind may not be made out of exactly the
same material as the brown disks of tapsoka. The typical tapsoka
shows alternate areas of red and white, but there are also sometimes
considerable areas of brown. One string (Plate XII, Fig. 7) has
almost exactly the appearance of kokonon, except it is larger. All
the disks are brown except a small area (5 cm) of red and white
disks in the center of the string. This, as well as its length (55 em)
and the character of the cord, would place it with tapsoka. As the
brown disks are regarded as much less valuable than the red ones,
it may well be a separate variety with a special name. It is a care-
fully made string, very uniform in size (4 mm), the five centi-
meters of true tapsoka being exactly at the center (three red and
two white areas, each 1 cm long), while at each end is 1 cm of the
small black seeds and white disks of kokonon luluai.

Wherever shell money is used in the South Seas the red disks are
regarded as the most valuable. On this account they are seldom
strung separately, but are usually mixed with other sorts, as in
Nos. 2 and 7. In the Museum collections are at least two, possibly
three, distinct kinds of small red disks—the most beautiful and
finely made of all the shell money of this region.

(9) Only one kind forms a complete string by itself (Plate XIII,
Fig. 1). This is from the Parkinson collection, and is reported as
coming from the east coast north of Cape St. Marie, though the fact
that at each end is 1 cm of the black seeds and white disks of kokonon
luluai, which is only reported from northern New Ireland, would
indicate a somewhat northern origin for this particular string.
This may be the same variety as that known as kawas in central
New Ireland and said to come from Lihir (Hahl in Globus, Vol. 91,
p. 312). Either this or the following variety, and possibly both,
may represent the linderan of Stephan and Graebner (p. 68) and

22 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

the ledara of Pfeil (p. 110), which he says is the most valuable
kind of money in New Ireland and worth one-half more than tapsoka.
The string is 65 cm long, the disks 2-214 mm in diameter and 4%
mm thick. The disks are light red, and in certain lights show a
bright golden color, so that the string fairly glitters in a bright
light. The holes in the disks are relatively small (4% mm) so that
they fit tightly on the small twisted cord.

(10) Similar to this is another kind or variety found in the
middle of several strings of kokonon luluai (Plates XIII, Figs. 2
and 3). They extend for 5-12 cm, also show golden tints, but are
much darker and considerably smaller. The color is rather dark
brownish red, the diameter 114-2 mm, while the holes in the disks
(24-1 mm) are both relatively and absolutely larger than in the
previous kind. They run about twenty-five to the centimeter.
Being in strings of kokonon luluai indicates that this variety comes
from northern New Ireland.

(11) Another variety (Plates XIII, Fig. 4; VI, Fig. 16) of small
disks is found in a girdle from the northeast coast near Cape Sass.
There are 22 em of small reddish disks very uniformly 2 mm in
diameter, running twenty-five to twenty-eight to the centimeter.
The disks vary in color, some light red, others various shades of
light to dark reddish brown. These are irregularly arranged on the
string, and as the disks are so thin it gives the string a mottled
appearance. There are also several areas of white, reminding one
of tapsoka, in fact the material of which the disks are made appears
to be very similar. Several strings of kokonon lulwaz show stretches
of this variety. Either this or the preceding is probably the same
as the tingerib of Schneider.

(12) Black money (really various shades of dark brown) is
mentioned by several writers. Hahl mentions two kinds, bukean
and kabon, as formerly in use in central New Ireland. Stephan and
Graebner mention manin, “‘small black disks,”’ from the Laur district,
southern New Ireland, which they say is the same as that described
as miu by Schneider. There are no separate strings of black money
in the collections from New Ireland, but considerable stretches of
black or dark brown disks occur in many of the strings. One kind
has already been mentioned under No. 2 (which appears about the
same as Schneider’s miu, and is from the same region). Large disks
(4 mm diameter) of a somewhat different color are found in No.
13 to be described later. Dark reddish brown disks 2-3 mm in
diameter are found in several strings from northern New Ireland.

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY 23

Also in the composite “pig money”’ from southern New Ireland are
found many areas of dark brown and reddish or purplish brown
disks, varying (in different strings and places) from 2 to 4 mm in
diameter. In one (Cat. No. 145540) there is at one end a string 227
em long of dark brown disks fairly uniform in diameter (2-3 mm)
and quite thin, running about twenty to twenty-four to the centi-
meter. This is probably the same as Schneider’s miu. Some of these
are made from very thin bivalves, as even some of the smallest
and thinnest disks show both the inner and outer sides of the shell
unground. These may be mbiu from the Duke of York Islands.
Others, both larger and smaller, are carefully ground down, hence
there must have been several kinds of “‘black’’ money, probably
mostly imported. Some of the disks are shown on Plate VI, Fig. 11.
In the collection are four strings of black money (Plate XIII, Fig. 5)
which were obtained at Rabaul in 1910, but were said to come from
the Duke of York Islands. The disks average 3-4 mm in diameter,
and while slightly more irregular in size, are otherwise indistinguish-
able from the dark areas of such belts as that illustrated in Plate XII,
Fig. 2. They are strung on European cord, very uniform in length
(three are 152 cm long, one 150 cm) and appearance, even though
the disks are of several different kinds. This may be a modern
development of the Duke of York money-making industry, or they
may have come from New Ireland. At any rate, they must have been
intended for New Ireland use, as such money is not current in
New Britain.

One common method of varying the uniformity of a money string
is by having different colors alternate, such as red and white in
tapsoka, black and white as in the portion of No. 2 already referred
to (Plate XIII, Fig. 7) and very frequently in the composite “pig
money” described later. Also in the following:

(13) A very uniform string 50 cm long (Plate XIII, Fig. 6) of
black (very dark brown) and white disks (4 mm diameter) in alter-
nate areas varying from two disks of each kind to areas a centi-
meter or more in length. All the disks are bored, fairly uniform
in thickness (nearly 1 mm) and all fit tightly on the rather large
string—a bunch of loosely twisted coarse fibers (coconut?) about
14% mm in diameter. The location given by Parkinson is the east
coast north of Cape St. Marie. No name is attached.

(14) From northern New Ireland come a considerable number
of strings 65-70 em long of small (2-214 mm diameter) white disks
(like some of No. 3) alternating with somewhat longer black seeds

24 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

(Plate XIII, Fig. 8). In some strings the arrangement is two disks
to one seed (Plate XIII, Fig. 9). This variety is called kokonon
luluai by Finsch. Parkinson’s label calls it mirimirimir, and says
it is found from the north end to about opposite Lihir. This kind
is much used for ornament, and is often found at the ends of other
strings. One girdle from the northeast coast is composed largely
of this variety.

(15) In the Parkinson collection are a dozen or more strings of
varying lengths, in which several kinds of disks are mixed in a more
or less irregular fashion (Plate XIII, Figs. 10-12). Most of the
strings are about 75 cm long, put up in the same fashion as that
described under No. 3, and made up largely of the same sort of disks
but also with many bored white disks of different kinds, as well
as red and brown disks of different shades. No name is given for
these and whether they have the same name and value among the
natives as No. 3, or whether they area different, perhaps a degenerate
form, it is impossible to say. From the number, however, it would
appear that the different kinds of disks were very often strung in
this irregular fashion. One of these mixed strings has some of the
smallest and most delicate disks, or more properly rings, in the
New Ireland collection. They are about 4% mm thick, 134 mm
outside diameter, and 114 mm inside diameter, but still show the
inside spiral marking of the Conus shell, so may be regarded as a
variety of No.3. The smallest ground and bored disks (No.10) are
considerably thinner, but the hole is not so large, so that the disk
is flat and has quite a different shape from these delicate rings.

(16) The most elaborate and valuable of all the varieties of New
Ireland shell money is that known as birok. It is called birogh on
the west coast and m’bigrog on the east coast of New Ireland, accord-
ing to Ribbe and Hellwig (Schneider, p. 59); nulpap in central New
Ireland, according to Hahl; and is commonly called “pig money”’
in Pidgin-English, as it was used in paying for pigs, usually in con-
nection with important ceremonies when pigs were killed. Hahl
says that it came from the Siar region and was made chiefly in
Mimias, and that only rich people could acquire and own such money
packets. All the specimens (fifteen) in the Museum collections, as
well as those described by Schneider and Finsch, are constructed
according to a certain general plan. Beginning at what may be called
the smaller end, we find in succession the following parts or sections:
(A) A string of various kinds of shell disks up to two meters or more
in length. (B) A short section of shell money in the center of which,

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY 25

woven over the string which passes through it diagonally, is a small
rattan square woven in different colors, usually red, black and
yellow. (C) Attached to the single string a double string of shell
disks arranged edge to edge. For each string of disks two separate
cords are used, passing in opposite directions through the hole in
each disk, and then back through the hole in the next disk, so that
the disks are held firmly edge to edge (Plate XIII, Fig. 14). For
convenience these will be called “edged” strings or strands. (D)
Four large dogs’ teeth (canines) on each side of which are short
strings (one to several) of disks attached on one side to the two
“edged”’ strings, and on the other to section (E) which consists of a
number of “edged” strands, usually eight, with pigs’ tails or pieces
of shell, or both, on the ends.

With the exception of two specimens (one shown on Plate XIX),
which seem to have lost the woven square, all the specimens follow
this general plan, the variation being in the length and make-up of
the sections, which in the case of sections (B) and (C) may be
repeated one or more times. On one string only (Plate XVII) is
there a double set of four dogs’ teeth. Section (A) is usually between
one and three meters in length and is never uniform, but made up
of several kinds of shell disks, or areas with seeds alternating with
shell disks. Small beads of different colors are found in some speci-
mens. The thin woven square or packet of section (B) varies from
3 to 6 cm square, though when there is an extra one it is sometimes
smaller. The string runs diagonally through the packet, and there
is also another string passing through at right angles and out at
the other two corners. On this are strung a few cm of shell disks
or beads, and some object, such as a pig’s tail, piece of shell, tooth,
or piece of cloth, is fastened to each end. These square packets
are said by Finsch to be amulets and to contain some special magical
objects, such as hair, etc. I have opened only one packet, but this
contained, so far as could be seen, absolutely nothing except the
folded strip of Pandanus leaf over which the rattan was woven.

Section (C), the part composed of two strings of disks set edge
to edge, varies in length, when single, from 230 em to 815 em, though
if repeated one of the sections may be made shorter. Between the
sections a shell or a large seed may be found instead of an extra
rattan square.

The only unvarying part of section (D) is the four dogs’ teeth,
which are duplicated in only one specimen (Plate XVII). This
section is always relatively short, usually much less than a meter

26 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

in length (in one case only 5 cm). The part connecting the teeth
with the two “edged’’ strands may be single or double, while on
the other side there are usually one, two, or four strands.

The greater mass of the specimens is composed of section (E).
In all but two of the fifteen specimens this consists of eight strands,
in the others seven and six respectively. In any one specimen these
are approximately the same length, but they vary in the different
specimens from 315 to 890 cm. Each strand has one or more pigs’
tails fastened to the end, sometimes also a piece of shell. In only
one case are two strands fastened to one tail. On a few strands the
tails are lacking, but as this occurs in old and somewhat injured
specimens, it is more likely they have been lost than that originally
there were none. In one specimen (Cat. No. 148094) which has
only seven instead of eight strands, there are only five pigs’ tails,
two strands having only pieces of shell at the ends. In another
specimen (Plate XIX), where next to the pigs’ tails the eight strings
all run through a large shell of Dentalium elephantinum, there are
only seven tails. On the other specimens the number varies from
eight to seventeen (Plate XV).

The meaning of the pigs’ tails is not certain. This kind of money
was used only in the purchase of hogs in connection with important
feasts and ceremonies, and has long since disappeared. Stephan
in 1904 found no trace of any in southern New Ireland. Reports
vary as to the value of these specimens, but there seems little doubt
that each one represented the value of a hog. Schneider makes
this definite statement on the authority of Ribbe and Hellwig.
Danks, after speaking of other kinds of money, says, ‘““There is
another kind of money obtained in New Ireland, but from what
I can gather, it is used only in the purchase of pigs. It seems to be
more an article of barter, the value of which is a large pig, than
currency.” Schneider says the number of tails indicates the number
of pigs it has purchased, i.e., the number of times it has been used
in connection with these ceremonies, and implies that this increases
its value. Pfeil says practically the same thing.

The statement made in some cases that the number of tails
shows the number of hogs the specimen is worth is not at all probable,
as it would make the specimens worth more than would seem likely
from the number of shell disks in them and would also make their
value vary irrespective of size. The number of tails in the specimens
in the museum varies from five to seventeen, while the estimated
number of disks in the specimen with seventeen tails (15,000) is

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY 27

but little more than that with five tails (14,000). Several other
specimens have over 20,000 disks, one at least 22,000 disks, with
twelve tails. The usual number of tails is from eight to fifteen.

The value of the disks is a little uncertain; still one can arrive
at a general estimate. We have no statement as to the value of the
white disks which make up most of the specimens, but we have
for some other kinds. Schneider says six to seven strings of tapsoka
will buy a pig. The strings of tapsoka are 65-75 cm long, and average
121% disks per cm or 1,250 to the meter. This would make a pig
worth from 5,000 to 6,500 disks of tapsoka, which is very much
more valuable than the ordinary white money. Perhaps a better
comparison would be with the ordinary pele of the Duke of York
Islands. Danks says four to five strings (equaling approximately
one meter or about 1,250 disks) are worth one fathom of tambu,
the New Britain shell money made out of Nassa camelus.

The value of hogs in tambu varies with size, time and place, and
has been given from seven to forty fathoms for one hog. Taking ten
to twenty as a conservative estimate, we find the number of disks
of pele, that one hog is worth, equals 12,500 to 25,000, which would
include, as far as number of disks is concerned, all the specimens of
birok in the Museum. As there was direct communication between
Duke of York Islands and southern New Ireland, and many of the
disks in birok are the same as certain kinds of pele, this would seem
to be a perfectly fair comparison, and make the value of a birok
equal to one hog, as reported. All this would mean little, of course,
if the value of a birok depended on its history or ceremonial use.

The shell disks used in these specimens are of many different
kinds, though by far the majority are a dirty white, from 3 to 4
mm in diameter. Very few exceed 4144 mm or are less than 244 mm.
Most of them are bored disks, though disks from Conus shells are
not uncommon. Finsch says that the disks are 5 mm in diameter
and made from Conus shells. This is not the case with any of these
specimens. The disks of the “‘edged”’ strands are more uniform than
those strung in the ordinary fashion, where many different kinds
of disks, such as white of several kinds, reddish brown, dark
brown to black, orange and purplish disks, as well as seeds and beads,
are used. As an illustration two of the strings will be described in
some detail, beginning at the smaller end. This end, by the way,
always terminates in a plaited string 10-20 cm long, formed by
adding a number of strands to the regular cord.

28 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

In the first specimen (Plate XV), a relatively simple one, the
parts are as follows: (A) This consists of (a) a string 173 cm long
of beads, shell disks and seeds, the first 21 em being very irregularly
arranged, the rest consisting of alternate areas 1 cm or more long
of white beads and very thin dark brown disks (214-3 mm in diameter
and about 144 mm thick); (b) 17 em of white disks and black seeds,
alternating; (c) 7 cm of white disks and dark brown disks alternating;
(d) a portion 120 em long in which the disks are fastened by the
side to a three-stranded plaited string (Plate XIII, Fig. 13). This
is the only piece of the kind known from New Ireland and apparently
is a foreign string added to the specimen, as in addition to the
technique the disks are also different from all others, dirty white
in color and crudely made, the hole being very irregular and usually
to one side.

(B) The section with the woven rattan square, on each side
of which are 4 em of orange disks (these are apparently the same
as the munbun of Duke of York Islands). At the opposite corners
of the square are strings (6 and 7 em long) of white disks and black
seeds, usually alternating, with part of a large black seed and pig’s
tail at the ends. The square is 5 ecm on the sides, about 4 mm thick,
and covered with narrow strips of black, red, and yellow rattan
woven in different designs. On the main string next to the square
there are two Nassa shells on one side and one on the other.

(C) Two strands 381 cm long of disks edge to edge, mostly
white (3-4 mm diameter) with a few reddish and purplish disks.

(D) The section with the four dog’s teeth, having two strings
(2 cm long) of white disks on one side (continuing the two ‘‘edged”’
strands) and four strings (2144 cm long) on the other (white with a
few purple and orange disks), each continued into two “edged”
strings of the next section.

(E) Eight ‘‘edged” strands 515 cm long, mostly white, but
with a few purplish and dark brown disks and an occasional black
seed. All the strings end in pigs’ tails, two strings with one each,
five with two each, and one with five—seventeen in all. The total
number of disks in this specimen is at least 15,000.

The other specimen (Plate XVII) is more complicated, and the
different parts will be only briefly enumerated.

(A) Fastened to the plaited end are three crab-claw rattles;
then follow (a) 76 cm of red, blue and white beads, (b) 137 cm of
white and dark brown shell disks, arranged in alternate areas about

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY 29

1 cm in length, (c) 10 em of various beads and brown disks mixed,
(d) 7 em of white disks, (e) a large nut similar to a walnut.

(B) (a) 5 cm having 1 em white disks (three times) alternating
with four strands of small black seeds (two times), (b) small (2 em)
red rattan square, (c) same as (a), (d) rattan square 34% cm on side,
red and yellow, at opposite corners a short string (21% cm) of shell
disks (white, orange and reddish on one side, and white disks and
black seeds alternating on the other), each terminating in a piece
of red cloth, (e) same as (a) with large blue bead at end.

(C) Two “edged” strings 814 cm long.

(D) (a) Large blue bead, then 4 cm of double string with orange
disks, (b) 1 em of white disks, (c) four dog’s teeth, (d) 2 em of white
disks with large blue bead in center, (e) white disks (1 em) and
four strands of black seeds (14% cm) alternating, each three times,
(f) 3 em empty string. (a) to (e) are then repeated in opposite
order.

(E) Eight “edged” strands 452 to 457 cm long, ending in fifteen
pigs’ tails, two strands with one tail each, five with two each, and
one with three. Most of the disks in this part are of the ordinary
white variety, but the last 85-90 cm of each strand is different, the
disks being smaller and of a semi-transparent white, reddish, or
dark brown color. When quite thin two or more are often placed
together (Plate XIII, Figs. 15, 16). This specimen has certainly
over 20,000 disks, and at least seven different kinds, (1) white disks
from Conus shells (similar to No. 2, p. 17); (2) bored white disks,
sometimes ground on both sides, but often showing unground faces,
probably different kinds; (8) disks with a thin pearly white layer
on one side (similar to the lillie of Duke of York Island, made
from Nautilus shells); (4) small white semi-transparent disks and
red or reddish disks resembling tapsoka disks somewhat, but still
not the same; (5) orange disks (similar to the munbun of the Duke
of York Islands); (6) purplish disks (same as the pirr of the Duke
of York Islands); (7) dark brown disks, large and small, some
ground on both sides (large ones usually), some unground (some of
these are probably same as the mbui of the Duke of York Islands).

(15) A very valuable possession in northern New Ireland is that
known as kaput (Finsch, p. 44) or manun (Schneider, p. 61). There
are three of these in the collection. These are listed as money by
Parkinson, but no name for them is given. They are each composed
of an elaborately constructed pendant attached to the ends of a
string of white shell money (315 cm long in two cases, 150 cm in

30 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

the other). The disks are very uniform in size and color, 2 mm
in diameter and correspond exactly to No. 4 (p.18). The make-up
of the two longer strings differs slightly. One (Plate XXII, Fig. 2)
has at each end and near the center a short section of kokonon
luluai. In the center of the longer end section is a small snail shell.
In the other string (Plate XX), one end has a small shell 1 em long
and the other 3 em of kokonon luluai. About 30 em from one end
and 100 em from the other is an area (8 and 81% cm long) of kokonon
luluai, broken by a small shell (7 mm long) in center, and an area
(6-9 mm) of very thin red disks (20-25 per cm) on each side half
way between the shell and the end. In the third specimen (Plate XX1)
the string has been broken and tied together again, which may
account for its being so much shorter. The ends are nearly plain,
one having a couple of larger disks and the other a few black seeds.
Near the center of the string is a short area (8 cm) of kokonon luluat,
with a small white shell in the center.

The pendants all have as center-piece a large reddish black seed
(from some sapotaceous fruit), somewhat kidney-shaped, opened at
the base to allow for making the holes for fastening the attached
ornaments. In the larger and more elaborate pendant (Plate XX)
the seed is 514 cm long and has fastened around the edge, except
for about 4 em at the base, a stiff band composed of two rows of
small black seeds with a center row of white shell disks fastened
between small strips of stiff fiber. On each side of the seed is the
large (2 cm diameter) greenish operculum of Turbo petholatus L.,
enclosed by a band sewed to the seed, and between this and the outer
band a row of black seeds. To the ends of the broad band below
(the long string of shell money is fastened to the middle of this band
above) are fastened on each side three pendants, four with shells
and two with seeds at the ends. Each of the two seeds has a pig’s
incisor fastened inside as a sort of clapper, while from one of
the shells a pig’s anterior premolar is suspended. The strings are
about 4 ecm long. Two are made of kokonon luluai, two of black
seeds, one of mixed beads, and one of beads and seeds.

The two other pendants are more simple, having only the outer
band around the edge (one with three rows of black seeds, the other
with two rows of dark blue beads and a center row of white beads).
One has a single pendant string of kokonon luluai on each side below,
with a shell at the end. In the other the outer edge only of the large
seed remains, suspended to which in the center is a large soft cocoon

——

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY 31

of a bag-worm moth (Psychidae). Either there were no string
pendants to this specimen, or they have been lost.

There are also in the collection several similar seed ornaments,
but without the long string of shell money. One of these (Plate
XXII, Fig. 1) has short string pendants similar to those of Fig. 2,
but with a tooth of the flying fox fastened in each shell. Another one
(Plate XXII, Fig. 3) is somewhat similar, but with a dog’s canine
fastened in one of the shells.

Shell disk money, while not so plentiful as in New Ireland,
was also used throughout most of the Solomons, Santa Cruz Group,
Banks Islands, northern New Hebrides, and New Caledonia. The
chief centers in the Solomons were the Shortland Islands and southern
Malaita, with the neighboring coasts of San Cristobal and the islands
between, especially Ulawa (Ivens, pp. 390-392). In 1929 shell
money was still being made at Auki, off Malaita. The small red
money of Ulawa was the most valuable. Red money was traded
as far west as Bougainville, and was probably made also in the
central Solomons. As late as 1925 Collinson (p.78) reports red money
still in use in the central Solomons, and worth about five dollars
a fathom. Red money was highly treasured and held by the chiefs
and rich men, and did not circulate as freely as the white, which
was also used extensively for ornaments. A special crude money
was made in the Shortlands for use in the interior of southern
Bougainville (Frizzi, p. 45, Fig. 66). In northern Bougainville,
according to Parkinson (p. 494), the shell money in common use
was known as biruan. It was made of light colored disks and im-
ported from Carteret Island. In the Parkinson collection are a
number of strings of this money. The disks are a brownish or bluish
white running about six to the centimeter, 444 mm in diameter,
uniform in size, but not very well rounded. They are made from
Conus or similar shells. The string is a bundle of strong brownish
fibers, the free ends (about 10 cm) only being twisted (Plate X XIII,
Fig. 1). Three other Bougainville strings obtained from Parkinson
are of a different make from the above, though similar. The disks
are somewhat smaller, nicely rounded, and of a bluish white color
(Plate XXIII, Fig. 2). The cord is twisted. One string (180 cm
long) has four short stretches of red disks, with a few black seeds
alternating with white disks on each side (Plate XXIII, Fig. 3).

The red money of southern Bougainville is represented by a
string (Plate XXIII, Figs. 4-6) 220 cm long, strung on two strands
of European pack thread, with the ends tied together. At more

32 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

or less regular intervals there are eight short stretches of black and
white disks (Plate XXIII, Fig. 5), or white disks and black seeds
(Plate XXIII, Fig. 6). All the disks, including the white, are bored,
thus differing from the previously described strings. Another string
(Plate XXIII, Fig. 7) with no definite locality, but presumably
from the eastern Solomons, is the same as the last except it is strung
on a strip of bark, as is also a string of white money from Malaita
(Plate XXIII, Fig. 8). The disks are grayish white, 6 mm in diameter,
but not ground down smooth, as they show breaks around the edges.
There are a few short stretches of black seeds alternating with the
white disks (Plate X XIII, Fig. 9). There are also in the Parkinson
collection many strings of a mixed variety (Plate X, Fig. 3) made
of crude white shell disks alternating with disks of coconut shell.
These, according to Parkinson, were made on Tasman, and traded
to other islands, especially Lord Howe. Krause (p. 154) illustrates
a similar specimen obtained in Nissan.

A peculiar kind of shell money, if it really is money, is illustrated
on Plate XXIII, Fig. 10. There are a number of pieces of this a
meter or more in length. The disks are from Conus or similar shells,
well finished, about 8 mm in diameter and 2 mm thick. They are
strung on two strands of strong native cord, and this in turn fastened
to a band of the same material. The band is formed of twelve
strings, plaited in pairs in two three-ply bands, one string of the
inner strand on each band being passed over the strings on which
the disks are strung at each turn, thus binding all these firmly together.
At intervals of 40 cm or so the shell disks are omitted, and purplish
red feathers (red cloth is sometimes substituted) are caught under
the binding cords. These specimens were obtained from J. G. Peace of
New Caledonia, and labeled “Shell money from the Solomon Islands.”’
Whatever may have been its use in the Solomons, if it really came
from there, the specimen is undoubtedly an ornamental band from
New Guinea, probably from the southeastern coast.

From Santa Cruz south the shell disks were made chiefly from
white or light colored Conus or similar shells. While strings with
definite values were in circulation, the disks were used largely on
ornaments, especially in the New Hebrides. Here arm-bands covered
with small shell disks were highly valued, and different patterns
and designs were formed by using black disks (from coconut shell)
with the white. In the Banks Islands shell money was of special
importance because of its close association with secret societies
(Codrington, p. 325; Rivers, Vol. I, p. 166).

MELANESIAN SHELL MONEY 33

In New Caledonia there were at least three different varieties

_ of shell money. The most valuable kind is made of the smallest

shell disks or rather beads known from this region (Plate VI, Fig. 9).

_A short string of these beads is made up with other objects into

fairly uniform units. Two specimens of this kind were obtained in
1911 from the Pombias of northern New Caledonia. The most
perfect specimen (Plate XXIV, Fig. 1) has a total length of 54 cm.
The shell beads are very uniform in size, 1144 mm in diameter and
1 mm thick, brownish gray in color. The string is 34 em long, with
a short tassel, made of the brown fur string'so common in New
Caledonia, at one end, and a more elaborate ornament at the other.
This is a string 16 cm long, on which short pieces of some small
bone alternate with wrappings of red fur. There is a small fur
tassel at the end, and in the center a woven square with two pearl-
shell pendants and a slender piece of bone fastened on each side.
The bone is cut so as to make it look like a short string of beads.

In the second specimen (Plate XXIV, Fig. 2) the shell beads
are still smaller, about 1 mm in diameter and run thirteen to fifteen
to the centimeter. The general structure is the same, except that
there are two woven rectangles with their pearl-shell pendants,
each somewhat smaller than the one in the first specimen. The
string is very old and has been repaired a number of times. The
string of shell beads is 32 em long, and the whole specimen 60 cm
long.

This kind of money (called ter mawon) was said to be used only
by the chiefs. It has a standard value, and in 1911 was worth
about $10.00, though the natives said that formerly its value was
at least double that amount. They remarked that it corresponded
to the gold money of the white man.

The second kind (went) of shell money is put up in long lengths
(usually about fifteen feet) and measured by fathoms and fractions
of fathoms. The beads are about 2 mm in diameter and 2 mm thick,
quite uniform in size in the strings seen (Plate XXV, Fig. 3). The
color is a light gray. The end of a string was also sometimes orna-
mented, as illustrated by this specimen. This is the money most

commonly used. It was worth in 1911 about $1.50 a foot, but it
_had also, according to the natives, decreased about one half in

value. This corresponds to what Lemire (Voyage a pied en Nouvelle

1This is made by wrapping the separate strands of the string, before they
are twisted, with hair plucked from the flying fox. The string is dyed to give
it the reddish brown color.

34 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Calédonie, p. 110) says it was worth about 1880. Pére Lambert
(Moeurs et superstitions des Neo-Calédoniens, p. 168) says half a
fathom would buy a canoe.

The third variety (Plate XXV, Fig. 2) consists of shell disks or
beads of varying size (114-3 mm diameter) kept at intervals of 4%
to 1 em by tying knots in the string on each side of the disks. This
was worth in 1911 about six cents a foot, and was used extensively
by the traders in dealing with the natives.

All these different kinds of money were said by the natives to
come from the west coast, but they could give no information
regarding their origin. The disks or beads are all made from a small
Conus or similar shell.

In the case of the first variety each piece is kept in a special
wrapper or pocketbook. This is made of a rectangular piece of
soft bark, about 10 by 15 cm, bound around the edges with fur
string (Plate XXV, Fig. 4).

In the J. G. Peace collection are several strings of the ‘cheaper
sort”? of money from the Loyalty Islands (Plate XXV, Fig. 1).
These are about 70 cm long. The string is made of two twisted
strands of some coarse fiber (Pandanus?). Most of the strings are
made up of very dark gray disks of coconut shell. These are about
6 mm in diameter and from 114 to 3 mm thick. The hole is about
1 mm across. At intervals of 2-6 cm there are one to three white
shell disks 5-6 mm in diameter and rather thin (.6-.8 mm). These
are from the base of some shell (Conus?) and have not been ground
and rounded on the outside.

q
.
7
-
:

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

Only the books and articles to which reference has been made are here listed.

ARMSTRONG, W. E.—Shell-money from Rossel Island, Papua. Man, 1924: 119,
pp. 161-162. One Plate.

Rossel Island: an Ethnological Study. Cambridge Press, 1928.

CoDRINGTON, R. H.—The Melanesians. Studies in Their Anthropology and
Folklore. Oxford, 1891.

Pages 325-327 treat briefly of the shell money of the Solomon and Banks Islands, describing
especially its ceremonial use in the Banks Group.

COLLINSON, W.—Life and Laughter ’midst the Cannibals. New York, 1927.

Danks, B.—On the Shell-money of New Britain. Journ. of the Anthr. Inst. of
Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. XVIII, 1888, pp. 305-317.

oted, except for three omissions covering about one and a half pages, by Kroeber, A. L.
= ae T. T., Source Book in Anthropology, pp. 395-402. University of California
ress, 5 (

The fullest account of the part played by tambu in native life.

EICHHORN, A.—Die Herstellung von Muschelperlen aus Conus auf der Insel Ponam
und ihre Verwendung im Kunsthandwerk der Admiralitatsinsulaner. Baessler-
Archiv, Vol. V, No. 6, 1916, pp. 256-283.

FinscH, O.—Siidseearbeiten. Gewerbe- und Kunstfleiss, Tauschmittel und
“Geld” der Eingeborenen auf Grundlage der Rohstoffe und der geogra-
hischen Verbreitung. Abhandlungen des Hamburgischen Kolonialinstituts,
ol. XIV. Reihe B. Vé6lkerkunde, Kulturgeschichte und Sprachen,
Vol. IX. Hamburg, 1914.

This is the best and most complete summary of all information up to the time of publication,
but not so detailed on certain points as Schneider.

Frizzi, E.—Ein Beitrag zur Ethnologie von Bougainville und Buka. Baessler-
Archiv, No. VI, 1914.
Shell money is described on pp. 45-46. Fig. 66 shows abuta, the crude money of the interior.

Hawi, A.—Das mittlere Neumecklenburg. Globus, Vol. 91, 1907, pp. 310-316.

aga a brief statement of the different kinds of shell money in use in central New Ireland

(p. 312)

Ivens, W. G.—Melanesians of the South-east Solomon Islands. London, 1927.

Pages 390-392 briefly describe the different kinds of shell-disk money found in the south-
eastern Solomons.

KRAUSE, F.—Zur Ethnographie der Insel Nissan. Jahrbuch des stidtischen
Museums fiir Vélkerkunde in Leipzig, Vol. I, 1906, pp. 44-159.

Describes three kinds of shell money from Nissan.

LAMBERT, LE PERE.—Moeurs et superstitions des Neo-Calédoniens. Noumea,
1900.

On p. 168 is a brief statement regarding two kinds of shell money. Fig. 38 illustrates a
short string with purse.

MALINOWSKI, BRONISLAW.—Argonauts of the Western Pacific. An Account of
Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New
Guinea. London, 1922.

PARKINSON, R.—Dreissig Jahre in der Siidsee. Stuttgart, 1907.

- gccaagy mentions and describes the use of several kinds of shell money from different
islands.

35

36 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

dee . GraF.—Studien und Beobachtungen aus der Siidsee. Braunschweig,

Pages 104-119 treat of native trade and the use of shell money in northern New Britain
and parts of New Ireland.

Risse, C.—Ein Sammelaufenthalt in Neu-Lauenburg (Duke of York). Mittei-
lungen des Vereins fiir Erdkunde zu Dresden, 1910-12, Dresden, 1912.
Pages 154-169 describe the making and use of diwara and pele.
et Jahre unter den Kannibalen der Solomo-Inseln. Dresden-Blasewitz,

Pages 135-137 describe the making of mauwai, 2 sorts (rough for interior, finer for coast),
and perasali, in the Shortland Islands. Several other kinds, he says, are imported, but then used
not as money, but for ornaments.

Pages 240 and 292-295 describe the large Tridacna shell rings and their manufacture at
Rubiana. Those with yellow (bakia) are used for ornament, the plain white (uwate) circulate as
money.

Shell-disk money (mimisi) is common in Choiseul, but not much used in Rubiana.

Rivers, W. H. R.—The History of Melanesian Society. 2 vols. Cambridge,
1914.

Describes the manufacture of shell money in the Banks Islands (Vol. I, PP- 166-168) and
its use in connection with various ceremonies, especially in the Banks Islands and New Britain.

Romi.ty, H. H.—The Western Pacific and New Guinea. London, 1886.

Discusses the use of dewarra on pp. 24-27.

SCHNEIDER, O.—Muschelgeld-Studien. Nach dem hinterlassenen Manuskript
bearbeitet von Carl Ribbe. Dresden, 1905.

Pages 12-85 treat of Melanesian shell money. Very full, but should be supplemented by
later writers, especially Finsch.

SELIGMANN, C. G.—The Melanesians of British New Guinea. Cambridge, 1910.
Chapters 39 and 40 give some information on the value and use of shell arm-rings and

the red shell disks known as sapi-sap?.
STEPHAN, E. and GRAEBNER.—Neu-Mecklenburg (Bismarck-Archipel). Berlin,

1907.
On pages 67-68 the kinds of shell money used in southern New Ireland are briefly described.

WooprorpD, C. M.—Notes on the Manufacture of the Malaita Shell Bead Money
of the Solomon Group. Man, Vol. VIII, 1908: 43, pp. 81-83.

Speaks of red, white, and black money, and describes money-making at Auki.

Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate II

SHELL MONEY RINGS AND STONE TOOLS
One-fourth actual size

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate III

SHELL ARM-RINGS AND BAGI. EASTERN NEW GUINEA
Almost one-third actual size

De Sa ee Ak Ce ae

Sa DN

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate IV

FPR PAG

aetite

teces

se
%
4
iS
a
:
.
3
‘)
‘2
4
La
ie
ae
cif
4)
*)

PEARL SHELL MONEY. NEW BRITAIN

Almost one-third actual size

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate V

GRINDING STICK AND PLATTER FROM TAMI

One-half actual size

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate VI

00000600 0b
©0090 0000

3.EGCeEO00000N O00 oo0od0go00

@ Mere Sele i
@o@0°0° Go oO
@ 000° 09 0

SHELL MONEY AND MONEY DISKS, FINISHED AND UNFINISHEI
Actual size

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate VII

wey = i

SHELL MONEY STRINGS

Actual size

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate VIII

*) aH) nial

~ ta

2

2

ai
<.
2'%
. :
23
a 52
Aa

=
=
=
33;
+

BUNCHES OF PELE
One-third actual size

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate IX

DATA) NCAT NO

(AMR

wai \aui 14 4. 14 Sn

Nt shatter naa) Ore LA by Je: deel ea ALS) athe Mog
rome : arn PETE T rr rrerer ree | Beh tees . P|
; . re" meyer He om :

b. .

a er
6

-

* iW phy 9b mn |

STRINGS OF PELE
Actual size

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate X

CREAM Casi is DPW eD

DRILLS FOR BORING SHELL DISKS TASMAN ISLAND MONEY

One-fifth actual size Actual size

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate XI

re Lor
hey ” ere : : ; :
prrprevereer Tirtveryy avi ter’)
- : 1
Ps Por ae cee

4 ' PL) : 4

mM ee ee seers vi ath
aeeette CRIMEEE CeetliOnHe 8 «~ ei hasan deol EL

vee pa TATA al PATE Ti
ENGLER eT vORCGEN FPR Fide TTT TET peecpennea pea "yr?
be) GULL Ee tall. sly.) 1, clack
MARL AGOT didi ae TT) i Ei whabcbealiada PY) (| Obl
rm by QUA at $Pt. ail ‘ anenanede Papen they PUBUF SOOT ART OPTRA
i! Wea) OU Te DEEP TR owegrere caReeeR ee Pepe nnae want TN
MAMMAL UT ad wm Abad a | ul s
SUNT OPE’ VaedcaMh WU UP MONET Tip aeaeN cp paggadNVet) WOR REE ENDY OOK ECRLTENS
TWH cr capaeeet COU, pnavottt STAC REM
DFE NE teoty CeCeeEC UUPPOronpegy 1 a eageer Ge BNTINT CBUEECHEIYONINT eley UE
eA halal TTT E Prin y OM UAL dalt lg edad
4 aidtraeee ey arerenmsser se ee — | « ae | AD polls apt dle averese
° : 4A a 4 i ' «daa d bd + 4 ahed)

‘

v ' > = u~ 4
sicthiaihinleetthiediadddhsbenadl Mus ‘ rhe tee | SP nerer errs. |

Fea acl terry
we Oeit I. id ch eddd hedb ac ci ae
o whatee. tart" eet eeng | peeray) a ne reports lets

. <

-) Ba 5 7 ohn tli

rut 7
P lid pene pth 0 phn e ing ete

pay

GMT af —

t

A het eke
oe 7 2° :
Pt 3% e ry
sahawt a - PaNere eelihl Viens ae

ary oe 2!
MURAL MAAR Dy rpg dt RS LS i
5

fe EST SERED BOO Ot OPM Ce Dae Pd et Oe ee :

7

oF seacrsuse ges cUete veep TTP VER Th tp Pree ere, PITT TSPETAINY UPS TPT IMUU DEEN STDS

BELTS AND MONEY STRINGS MADE FROM CONUS OR SIMILAR SHELLS,
NEW IRELAND

Actual size

Field Museum of Natural History

Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate XII

Lie. sbdtba hanna alae ot sont usb bebe Ld weemere rey (aM Loo "T|

peer i ena en

mae Bi i i if ah dis iL. Ls
PT Git cad chad rv) aie |= Avot Orit

Pete Pee ripepen a

MeL DRY. Sinem aaa
po At lly wh ieee rine

Py vir ew) welts Vaart

7) LL AAM LL ad weeks

petits Tree debofenten? nN
wily uit ab 2 pagina

mr wr

*

(viral

BELTS AND MONEY STRINGS OF DRILLED DISKS. NEW IRELAND

Actual size

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No 1, Plate XIII

Yak al, ih
{i A Ak ka
6

a RL at ,, iat oa |) ve ul hte he dani Lisa hk Vi,

7

BALAI AP BARAREBSESARBAPSSABARPASS
8

b.2.52.6 6)60.2.48.9-/-4.8 BERRA BSL 424 R84 851

9

elt Mable vow ae <n Atel il, i did ANA niin i yw a wi, am ae j i,
10

ae one in Serres) Verret ere tL Celene wannaa eer Pee Cocoa
11

bi biahdeeill is ga Albee Lhasa td dg

dd Dy IID ; P2222 oo 2 32
13

ORR Len iS He se Dieses
14
15 | 4

eS net nate <r ne ™

BORED AND MIXED MONEY STRINGS. NEW IRELAND
Actual size

)
: ‘
\
é
(
soot
.
fe
‘ :
; ae

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1. Plate XIV

BIROK OR PIG MONEY IN WRAPPER. NEW IRELAND

One-half actual size

tee

oe

oo

Rae autem . P
sa 4 owe 2:
eer akse ise

NEW IRELAND

One-fourth actual size

BIROK OR PIG MONEY.

NEW IRELAND

BIROK OR PIG MONEY.

One-fourth actual size

4

SS

> eas
a

BIROK OR PIG MONEY. NEW IRELAND

One-fourth actual size

Biisisisuas

o_o) Y

oe

NEW IRELAND

One-fourth actual size

BIROK OR PIG MONEY.

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate XX

‘kh

Let

7

taap eel

*

22 828 8 UU Sete BX SORES MVS eeects

eonetRameae 4 Gy

aie! TT tt TE I

,
.
-

ig 6 (8

MANUM. NEW IRELAND

Actual size

Field Museum of Natural History

i POrRrestcer alii sCRtt iret Ll o veseentece essen Cesesa. UllCOW@ Ere. Scere

et doth d tee IAidd Ji yd

iu

yer *}

Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate XXI

MANUM. NEW IRELAND

Actual size

ezis [enjoe SplIYyy-OM T,

GNVIdUI MAN “WONVIN

etesessemvaessee

7 . te
4 ~ aire
ne ‘
j

¢ i

‘ we ;
fl \
‘
{
Ci

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate XXIII

ANB UHL AG LA Na DL AS
AARTONFTEVEY FRG FFRVEHT) 'PlettHrRPpTH| BepeaT ei eNnrp rm @FPTTE PROENTTO/ PAREN EP RT UTS

ui Pag € Des GS & mtr ery il a sulily a Malls se
S

Ay es Pain 4 1 he ate aye!

VPI»

WHITE AND RED MONEY. SOLOMON ISLANDS
Actual size

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate XXIV

OO deta tgy

a ele CAR a Heh

;
:
7

MOST VALUABLE MONEY OF NEW CALEDONIA

Seven-eighths actual size

.
)

Field Museum of Natural History Anthropology, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Plate XXV

=

af

-

thy itn Dh i tl. a iy

CHEAPER MONEY OF NEW CALEDONIA

Seven-eighths actual size

2S

it or
py? ed

| ; ‘

. ~ b-; \ “- he

Stare wn

“ o f

i

j , iM
; ty
.

¥ '
df,
ies
"
4
}
.
p
— 4

} fe
tt Httche Cae
dat og ant With #91
ricraery Ted Nell
np ie biy std Me } )} My 1%
” Tyg tk git i )

"

' re i
ete
rau ‘

writ
i tee

sath

é aby eee sii tint!

abik gute!
sts msi ‘

ded DLR
4 Hea ee

tous Mpliy
0 He OA
WT aed \ ; | ft OT HAE

Suh
" ut |

Withisao
Prentelore

Weer
yf at shy Fe

¥ Ww W
ra, rieieehi ty mi! Thats ie ie
Hee a han tetris i { 1 sh ee "

stensayi te fae
»

AE hip
Rett Vie
AURA
ie,

ehoe yep tte
yirbidaete ite

hats Et
(

Fa te)

Ly AA

os
$e
ie '. ht

e i iy tt « MN 4 Mat a

‘ vie if

Titsa ek.
fi a

te~-

ate rh B i i EEE Fela tie\ lO Net : te aM
Misa aat FA ie ney 1 ! Ayibeya ‘
St

ip<x-

aes *
Ee ee
~