Shell money most valued by the Native American tribes of the Pacific Coast from Alaska to northwest California was "Dentalium shell", a species of long narrow marine shelled mollusk, a tusk shell or scaphopod. The tusk shell is naturally open at both ends, and can easily be strung on a thread. This shell money was valued by its length rather than the exact number of shells; the "ligua", the highest denomination in their currency, was a length of about 6 inches. Farther south, in central California and southern California, the shell of the olive snail "Olivella biplicata" was used to make beads
Prehistoric beads in the Philippines of the raw material itself would require extensive knowledge and experience as not all shells could undergo the different modifications without breaking. A coloring process by the addition of appliqués also shows us that the methodology to come up with such beads was very well developed and ingenious. Prehistoric beads in the Philippines The Philippines, like other Southeast Asian countries, is an archipelagic body of land and thus, commonly comes in contact with natural resources found in bodies of water. Many of the decorative pieces and tools that they possess, as well as their culture, seem to reflect this maritime