Occasionally the Indians fashioned great belts containing over ten thousand beads. With the increased manufacture after European contact, these beads were carried inland along indigenous trade routes as far as the Great Plains and as far south as Virginia. By the 1700's the Dutch Europeans began to fabricate vast quantities in factories such as the Campbell wampum factory New York. The use of wampum as money, even among the English, continued until the American Revolution. Bow Loom used in New England to weave wampum belts.
Wampum belts consist of rows of beads woven together.
Weaving traditionally involves stringing the beads onto twisted plant fibers, and securing them to animal sinew or leather thong warp. By the 1700's a multitude of Native American weaving techniques had developed for wampum belts, bracelets, necklaces and collars. By the 1700's in New England, tubular glass beads and small round pony beads were being woven into belts and bands. Long, wide belts of wampum were not produced by Native Americans until after European contact. However, the methods and techniques used in making large wampum belts probably developed from the ancient Native American traditions of finger-weaving.