Tag Archive for 'Shell'

Chumash cupped beads from purple dwarf olive sea snails (Olivella biplicata). Image credit: Lynn Gamble / SBMNH Collection.

Chumash Indians Were Using Shell Bead Money 2,000 Years Ago

Jan 29, 2021 by News Staff

The Chumash Indians, hunter-gatherers centered on the south-central coast of Santa Barbara, were using highly worked shells as currency as early as 2,000...

A camelid figurine made of Spondylus shell and a rolled gold sheet found in a stone offering box from Lake Titicaca. Image credit: T. Seguin, Université libre de Bruxelles.

Archaeologists Find Shell Llama and Gold Foil in Inca Offering Box from Lake Titicaca

Aug 5, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists from the Pennsylvania State University and the Université libre de Bruxelles have found a stone offering box near a reef close to the north-eastern...

Reconstruction of Stupendemys geographicus male (front) and female (middle-left), together with the giant caimanine Purussaurus mirandai and the large catfish Phractocephalus nassi. Image credit: Jaime Chirinos.

Paleontologists Find New Fossils of Gigantic Freshwater Turtle

Feb 17, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of paleontologists has unearthed several well-preserved shells and the first known jaw specimen of Stupendemys geographicus, a species...

Four Eastern box turtle rattles tied to leather legging with leather string with stone flakes inside of the shells. Image credit: Andrew Gillreath-Brown / McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Tennessee.

North American Indigenous Peoples Used Turtle Shells as Symbolic Musical Instruments

Sep 11, 2018 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE, turtles served as more than tasty treats for Native American tribes throughout North America;...