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Varieties of Dentalium
After doing a little homework, I found out there are many varieties of dentalium, some of them quite rare. The kind harvested on the U.S. West Coast and prized by many North American tribes is smooth opaque white, thick-walled, more or less straight, and large in diameter. The variety commonly available these days at shell shops, pow-wows, trading posts, and bead stores is curved, cone-shaped, semi-opaque, and ridged. They generally come from the Phillipines.
The large, smooth dentalium
traditionally traded and used as cur-
rency on the California (U.S.) Coast.
You might have to sort through several
dozen to get matching or graduated sizes for your project.
Natural green, about 3-1/2 inches long
Dyed yellow (Available in other colors, too.)
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This page was first posted on 6/1/98, ©1998 Mary J. Tafoya.
All copy, illustrations and images ©1998 Mary J. Tafoya.
Single copies may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial use only.
