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I can't add to much information about wampum north of NY, but I have handled and studied wampum from a number of NY and Pa. sites. It seems to be really scarce on Pa. sites, the earliest being found on sites dating back to the 1550s. There is a cut off date when wampum mostly became European made, and that's around 1710 - 1780. Prior to 1700, not every bead of course, but the majority were Native made. All the wampum found in Pa. was traded between the Natives, not between the Europeans and the natives. Down here the Natives being Shenks Ferry and Susquehannock people. This we know because there aren't any shell work shops, and the middens do not reveal any used columna from the whelk or quahog shells. So it had to come from somewhere, but it's found on pre-contact sites. And there's only two options. It was either made to the south of us ( Pa. ) and traded north, or made to the north of us and traded south. This we don't know. The first thing that we do as collectors however, is make necklaces out of the wampum. A large percentage of wampum beads were not used to make necklaces, the beads were sewn onto thin pieces of native tanned animal skins for decoration on clothing. And of course a little later, after the contact period, the beads were sewn on to trade cloth and canvas to make belts and used as currency, or given as gifts of friendship, or to establish a treaty. We know wampum was used to purchase tracts of land also.
I once owned a 46 foot long strand of wampum, approx. 2750 beads, all excavated at Keshong, Ontario Co., NY, by Harry Schoff . At the same site he unearthed a preserved length of a buckskin belt with rows of 2152 purple wampum beads sewn onto it. Wampum probably served as a symbol of status to the Natives, and when it was made and introduced by the Europeans, an X amount would buy beaver pelts and quality furs to take back to England. I can't find it, but I have copies of a merchants book from the 1720s, showing how many wampum would be traded for certain pelts and furs. The picture is over a thousand wampum beads excavated by Harry Schoff at the Boughton Hill Site, in one pit,, Lot4. 1650 - 1680. We got off track a little bit trying to answer the original question about what may have been traded for certain lithics. Then wampum popped up, and I continued this post with some additional wampum information. And now I'm tired of typing, my arm hurts, so will be back later!!
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Here’s a whelk column I saved from that spot toocall me Jay, i live in R.I.Comment
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This meadow wood is from materials found from New York state..Comment
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A lot of great information here. I never was lucky enough to find any wampum . I would have loved to have seen some for study. That is one artifact I never had the pleasure of studying in hand.TN formerly CT Visit our store http://stores.arrowheads.com/store.p...m-Trading-PostComment
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Very cool, i love shell artifacts. Beach finds?Comment
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No, found at known native village sites. At least where the whelk shells were concerned. If found on a beach, one would never really know, since whelk shells will break apart with time and tumbling in the surf, and end up looking much the same as they look when they represent stages in the production of wampum.
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Ahhh i see, that makes sense. Thanks for the insight.Comment
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I have never knowingly found a native shell bead. I do however have a mason jar full of pipe stems, old marbles etc.... Looking at these photos, it is probably worth having a closer look at some of them.
Years ago, before I knew the little I know now, I found a lead bead very similar to some of the larger ones Charlie posted above. It was was chaulky white like a shell, but too heavy....... so I bent it in half to confirm it was lead and tossed it back in the field. Stupid, stupid, stupid....Comment
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