Natural Science in Archaeology

10.6 Shells, Coral, Fossils, and Fossil Bone 235
cousin. Extraction is accomplished by simply irritating the creature until it ejects
the fluid directly onto cotton yarn (Gerhard 1964). Although murex species were
undoubtedly available in many eastern Mediterranean areas, the Phoenicians and
later groups exploited the abundance in the coastal region south of Sparta, Greece.
A related dye was extracted from an insect. The Sumerians discovered the scarlet
pigment, derived from the insect kermes. The Sanskrit word kermi means “worm;”
in Arabic it is qirmiz , and in Persian it is kerema. In modern English it has
become “crimson”. During medieval times, the Venetians made “Venetian Scarlet”
from kermes (vermillium means “little worm”). The extract from kermes was
also used as an astringent for wounds. An Arab doctor in the ninth century used
it to stimulate the heart. Kermes lost its importance as a scarlet pigment when the
Spanish discovered the Aztecs using an extract from the cochineal insect, which is
indigenous to Central and South America.
Shell was often used as either currency or trade goods. One of the most widely
prized shell currencies was the cowrie (Fig. 10.6), of which the most extensively
circulated species was the Cypraea moneta or “money cowrie”. Money cowrie is
found throughout the Indo-Pacific; most of it originated in the Maldive Islands. The
cowrie grows smaller (2 cm or less) in the Maldives than in other habitats, making
it a convenient size for distribution. Cowries were less expensive to supply than
minted coins and impossible to counterfeit (Rosenberg 1992). In addition, cowries
had symbolic and ritual significance in many cultures, which must have contributed
to their acceptance as a form of currency. Cowries were also used for human
decoration in prehistoric Europe and North America.
Fig. 10.6 A selection of cowries