Shell Beads, Including Wampum
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1991
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Usher Parsons
label: Donor Name
content: No Information
notes: label: Notes
content: 12 cylindrical shell beads and wampum, white and purple. They are attached to a box with a label in old handwriting: "Wampum - Beads from the grave of a daughter of Ninigret, Sachem of the Nyantic [Niantic] Indians. She was buried about 1660, near the present town of Charlestown, Rhode Island. Hist. Mag. Feb. 1863. (From Dr. Usher Parsons, Providence, R.I.)" The label had been marked number 138383, but a later note with it indicates that that catalogue number is incorrect for this artifact. This artifact was subsequently assigned a T number, as its real catalogue number was not identified. The article referred to in the label is Usher Parsons, "Indian Relics Recently Found in Charlestown, R.I., With Brief Notices of the Nyantic Tribe of Indians," The Historical Magazine, 7:41-44, 1863. The article talks about a large amount of wampum having been found during the excavation of the grave. See also pp. 405 - 409 in Goldowsky, Seebert J. 1988. Yankee surgeon: the life and times of Usher Parsons, 1788-1868. Boston: Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine in cooperation with Rhode Island Publications Society. This may be from Accession No. 4159?
label: Record Last Modified
content: 12 Mar 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 15
place: label: Place
content: Charlestown, Near (not certain), Washington County (not certain), Rhode Island (not certain), United States (not certain), North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Archaeology
culture: label: Culture
content: Niantic (Nehantic) (?)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 999999
label: USNM Number
content: AT17879-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Bead