VOL.35 NO.2 OCTOBER 2OO5 - British Shell Collectors' Club

Page 10 PALLIDULA
beside the skeletons of a woman and a 7 month old child. Cowries were believed to ensure life and
resurrection 3 .
Dr. Felix Lorenz (personal communication) said C. pantherina was also found in 5 th century Merowingan graves
in Southern Germany. Only wealthy women had them in their graves. He was of the opinion that they came
from the Yemen area.
Conclusion
The base of a cowry shell found in a 12 th -14 th grave near Cambridge appears to be from a shell of Cypraea
pantherina. Specimens of the same species have been found in other early English and European graves. It
was probably intended as a charm rather than as an ornament. Its presence suggests that the human skeleton
with which it was found was probably that of a woman.
Aperture
The opening of a shell.
Glossary
Columella The central axis of a coiled shell, formed by the inner wall of the whorls and
often forming a thickened inner lip.
Columellar teeth Teeth along the columellar (inner) lip.
Fossula A spoon-shaped depression at the anterior end of the columellar lip of a cowry
shell.
Gastropod A mollusc with a single shell. The shell is usually coiled (spiral).
Labial teeth Teeth along the outer lip.
Nominate
subspecies
The subspecies that represents the species as originally named, e.g. Cypraea
pantherina pantherina.
Pyriform Pear-shaped.
Rostrate With produced, beak-line extremities.
Spire The coils of a gastropod shell. In cowries, this is very small and often not
visible.
Subspecies A population of individuals differing significantly from other populations of the
same species.
Teeth Ridges that run along both edges of the aperture of a cowry shell.
References
Allan, J. 1956. Cowry Shells of World Seas (Georgian House, Melbourne)
Burgess, C. M. 1985. Cowries of the World (A. S. Barnes & Co., New York)
Heiman, E. L. 2002. Cowries of East Sinai (Keterpress Enterprises, Jerusalem)
Lorenz, F., 2002. New Worldwide Cowries (Conchbooks, Hackenheim, Germany)
Lorenz, F. and Hubert, A. 2 nd ed., 2000. A Guide to Worldwide Cowries (Conchbooks, Hackenheim, Germany)
Naerbeth, C. November, 2004. The Cowry Shell as Money, in Mollusc World Issue 6 (Conchological Society of
Great Britain and Ireland)
Taylor, J. and Walls, J. G. 1975. Cowries (T. F. H. Publications, New Jersey)
Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to John Batt for assistance with identification and with the determination of the degree of
maturity of the shell, and for reviewing the final draft. I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Felix
Lorenz for information on the longevity of C. pantherina and on its occurrence in early German graves, and to
Archaeological Solutions for permission to reproduce this article in Pallidula.
3 Allan, J. 1956. Cowry Shells of World Seas, page 6.