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1966.29.50

Shell conical ornament

1966.29.50

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

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Collection type
Object
Description
Shell conical ornament
Long description
Conical shell ornament with hollowed base and groove near the base. [El.B 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 5/12/2005]
Geographical reference
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Latin America and the Caribbean > Caribbean > Saint Kitts and Nevis
St Kitts Ponds Estate site to the north of the sugar factory pier
Cultural groups
Arawak
Person
Field collector Herbert Boon
PRM source Herbert Boon
PRM source T. Wingate
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1930?, uncertain
Date collected
1908 - 1930
Acquisition information
Purchased: 1966
Materials and processes
Material Shell, Process Hollowed, Process Grooved
Dimensions
Width: max 26 mm, Height: max 21 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1966.29.50
Research and responses

Lennox Honeychurch (former student at the Pitt Rivers Museum), discusses similiarly shaped pieces of stone which were used by early Carib and Arawak settlers of the region as physical representations of the islands on three dimensional maps in his doctoral thesis. These stone objects were sized and shaped to represent each specific island in a group, and then set either on mats or connected using a series of small wood pieces representing trade winds. Dr. Honeychurch's thesis, The Carribean People, can be found in the Bodelien bookstacks. [MOB 2/10/2000]

Probably spirit-image, ZEMI. (See Olsen, DOC). LM.

Associated publications
Reference: Finding the Forgotten: Locating Transatlantic Slavery in The Pitt Rivers Museum Collection, Main author: Jane Webster, 2025, Page: 123

Search terms: Ornament, Religion, Tool, Head Ornament, Religious Object

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