Where do you think these are from?
What were they used for?
What do you think they're made from?
Answers:
Where do you think these are from?
These are artifacts from our Native American Collection, and they came from a donation in 1930 originating in Wenatchee, Washington!
What were they used for? What do you think they're made from?
These are carved dentalium shells, and at one point they were strung along twine as beads for a necklace. Dentalium is a genus of mollusc, meaning that the animal lives almost entirely within the shell. The name "dentalium" comes from the Latin dentis, which means "tooth." Dentalia live on the seafloor, eating sediment they scavenge there.
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