Pearl shell
date: label: Accession Date
content: 17 Feb 2017
name: label: Collector
content: Jean T. Chapman-Mason
label: Donor Name
content: Jean T. Chapman-Mason
notes: label: Notes
content: Pearlshell in near natural state; one half only (of a bivalve). Donor notes: "Shells emptied of their oyster meat (which is sold for food) are often discarded but enterprising individuals in Manihiki will collect them & take them to Rarotonga by the ton (in 40 gallon drums) to sell to local craft-makers and dance teams who are the main users of the item. In the past, from the 1890s to about 1950, the shell was exported overseas to make buttons. In ancient times they were used to make fishhooks and lures."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 26 Aug 2016
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Manihiki Island, Cook Islands, Polynesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Cook Islands Maori
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2069807
label: USNM Number
content: E433850-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Shell
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 16.5 cm
label: Diameter
content: 4 cm