Chumash casino radio commercial11/21/2023 The use of shell beads no doubt greatly facilitated this wide network of exchange.” “We know that right around early European contact,” Gamble said, “the California Indians were trading for many types of goods, including perishable foods. In addition, specialists have noted that the isotopic signature of the shell beads found in the San Francisco Bay Area indicate that the shells are from south of Point Conception. The evidence includes shell bead-making tools, such as drills, and massive amounts of shell bits - detritus - that littered the surface of archaeological sites on the islands. Through sleuthing, measurements and comparison of standardizations among the different bead types, it became clear that these were probably money beads and occurred much earlier than we previously thought.”Īs Gamble notes, shell beads have been used for over 10,000 years in California, and there is extensive evidence for the production of some of these beads, especially those common in the last 3,000 to 4,000 years, on the northern Channel Islands. “They also were traded throughout California and beyond. “These earlier beads were just as standardized, if not more so, than those that came 1,000 years later,” Gamble continued. Credit: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Chumash Olivella biplicata rough disc beads made in the historic period, after European contact.
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