Shell Bead Technologies in the Ancient Western Pacific: Threading Archaeological Evidence and Traditional Knowledge from Lauru (Choiseul), Solomon Islands

Charles J.T. Radclyffe1*, Phillip Ma’aelopa1, Arlo James1, Stephen Manebosa2, and Grinta Ale’eke‑Bemama2

1University of Otago, New Zealand; 2Solomon Islands National Museum, Solomon Islands; *charles.radclyffe@otago.ac.nz

Shell beads are among the oldest forms of ornamentation in the world and have served as a valuable medium for investigating social and economic complexity in the deep past. In Island Southeast Asia and the western Pacific, marked by unparalleled marine biodiversity and considerable depth of human occupation, archaeological research has demonstrated the longevity, sophistication, and diversity of ancient ornamental shell technologies. This paper examines the origins of shell bead, or shell money traditions as they are more commonly known, in the Solomon Islands. It synthesises insights from microscopic analysis, midden faunal analysis, and ongoing documentation of traditional knowledge about shell money in an understudied province, Lauru (Choiseul). Findings are presented from an analysis of shell beads excavated from a newly recorded 600 – 700‑year‑old coastal village on Supizae, an offshore atoll in northern Lauru. Manufacturing sequences of the different bead types are proposed, which expand on previous studies based largely on heirlooms, museum collections, and ethnographic literature. Additionally, the research contributes to broadening the recognition of the diversity and geographic distribution of traditional shell money‑making in the Solomon Islands, which has been overshadowed by the better‑studied and cultural tourism‑supported shell money traditions of Malaita.