The Value of Wampum among the New York Iroquois

A Case Study in Artifact Analysis

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3029192
AutoresLynn Ceci (autor de correspondencia)
Año1982
Volumen38
Número1
Páginas97-107
Fecha de publicación1982-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Anthropological Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0091-7710 • E-ISSN: 2153-3806
EditorialUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/jar.38.1.3629950
OpenAlexW2334442541
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas20
Referencias citadas9

The archeological and documentary evidence for wampum permits the reconstruction of an economic system linking three early historic cultures in the Northeast: Algonquian, colonial, and Iroquois. While the roles of the first two cultures can be outlined, the basis for Iroquois participation, i.e., their desire for wampum, is incompletely understood. Using sources from archeology, history, ethnohistory, ethnography, economics, and anthropological theory, ten cultural factors are presented which explain the high esteem given wampum by the Iroquois. The last and most complex argument ties mythological accounts of wampum's origins to social, economic, political, and ideational process, that is, to the evolution of the Iroquois League. The study represents a multidisciplinary approach to artifact analysis, and is a case study of the role of shell beads in culture change

Archaeology · Argument (complex analysis) · Artifact (error) · Colonialism · Cultural artifact · Ethnography · Ethnohistory · Ethnology · Mythology · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Value (mathematics) · American Environmental and Regional History · Anthropology · Archaeology and Natural History · Classics · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History · Law · Psychology