Cowrie shells in ancient China
Титульна AI-згенерована ілюстрація / AI-generated cover illustration. Symbolic counting of cowrie shells in an ancient Chinese setting, not a specific documented exchange.
In ancient China, cowrie shells were valuables that people gave, accumulated and used in exchange. They appear in inscriptions on bones and bronze vessels from the Shang and Zhou periods. But not every excavated shell was money: cowries were also worn as ornaments and placed in burials.
Saying that shells were money therefore describes one role rather than every use. Zhou inscriptions provide evidence of transactions reckoned in cowries, a stronger basis for identifying a payment than simply finding a shell. The example shows how an object valued in its own right could also serve a monetary function. [1, 2]