Necklace

Item number Sf681 a-b from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

Public

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Data
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Description

A five strand necklace with two stands now broken. The small disc shaped beads alternate in groups of black stone beads with groups or orange or purple shell beads. The shell beads frequently have two white beads as borders. The beads are threaded on hand spun brown cotton cords. The fastening cords are re-plied and thus larger in scale. Part b is a few beads that have fallen off the broken strands and are now threaded on monofilament.

History Of Use

The coloured beads of this necklace are probably made of spondylus shell, a type of bivalve found in Ecuadorian waters. Spondylus was traded extensively to Peru over several millennia and was of such importance that it is frequently depicted in the art. Offerings of whole shells as well as beads and inlays are common in many periods.