Wampum Wampum Wampum is a traditional shell bead of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of American Indians. It includes the white shell beads fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell and the white and purple beads made from the quahog or Western North Atlantic hard-shelled clam. It was used by the northeastern Indian tribes as a form of gift exchange, and the colonists adopted it as currency in trading with them. Eventually, the colonists developed more efficient methods of producing wampum, which caused inflation and ultimately its obsolescence as currency. Wampum was often kept on strings like Chinese cash. Before European
Prehistoric beads in the Philippines been formed in the following manner. Bead blanks were first formed from the raw shell followed by perforation by use of a drill with what is proposed to be a bow or pump drill. The blanks are then attached to a string and specific appliqués were added to complete the shell beads. What these latter shell beads tell us is that there was indeed a high level of technique around the time that these shell beads were being made. A specific set of developed tools, specific processes and a very concise plan are required to form these beads. Mere selection