Necklace of green-hued spiral shells, Tasmania, 1870s

Necklace made from bright green Phasianotrochus eximius shells.

This necklace along with three loose unpolished shells were recieved into the museum's Animal Product Collection on 18th December 1876. It was bought from a Naturalist Agent, called Mr Cutter.

In 2009 necklaces like this one, were listed as a Tasmanian Heritage Icon by the National Trust of Australia. Necklace making remains an unbroken tradition for Tasmanian Aboriginal women.

""Shell necklaces were originally made as an adornment, as gifts and tokens of honour, and as objects to be traded with other sea and land peoples for tools or for ochre used in important ceremonies."

The European colonisation of Tasmania (formerly Van Diemen’s Land) in 1803 destroyed much of the Tasmanian Aboriginal life and heritage. Necklaces were exchanged for food and goods with the Europeans. European asthetics, tools and materials influenced the traditional style of the necklaces with heavier and longer necklaces, such as this one, appearing after 1803.

AP.147-1876