Cowrie Shells, Global Trade, and Local Exchange: Piecing Together the Evidence for Colonial Virginia

Autor:	Barbara J. Heath
Rok vydání:	2016
Předmět:	African american Archeology History 060102 archaeology biology Monetaria moneta Economic shortage 06 humanities and the arts biology.organism_classification Colonialism Archaeology West africa 060104 history Monetaria annulus Economy Currency Social distribution 0601 history and archaeology
Zdroj:	Historical Archaeology. 50:17-46
ISSN:	2328-1103 0440-9213
DOI:	10.1007/bf03377324
Popis:	Cowries of the species Monetaria moneta and Monetaria annulus are marine gastropods native to the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Both species served historically as currency in West Africa. Archaeologists have interpreted cowries at North American historical sites as evidence of African or African American identity and spirituality. Economic historians studying colonial economic systems do not consider cowries in North America at all. The temporal and spatial distribution of these shells in Virginia suggests that their use in the 18th-century colony merits critical examination. Cowries were concentrated in colonial ports that served the transatlantic slave trade. Shells may have been used subsequently in the colony as currency in an economy characterized by a chronic shortage of coin. A regional analytical scale reveals a more complex picture of the temporal, spatial, and social distribution of cowries than has been understood to date, underscoring the roles that cowries played in local and regional responses to colonialism.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::92ee28e59d1a085ebc913f7980405161 https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03377324 Zobrazit plný text záznamu Full text from SpringerLink