Crafting Marine Shell Prestige Goods at Cahokia

Abstract

Acquired from coasts and exchanged inland across North America, marine shell was an important raw material for making prestige goods, valued objects that “materialized” relationships between individuals or groups. Of interest here is how marine shell prestige goods production and exchange was organized, including the social identities of crafters and consumers. At Cahokia, shell working was associated with higher-status households, especially in the later phases of the Mississippian sequence. Shell ornaments crafted by elite households may have been used locally, but since prestige goods often passed through many hands, some shell objects may have ultimately been deposited far from Cahokia.