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This is a conus shell armlet, or mwali. It is believed
to have been used in the famous kula exchanges of the Trobriand
Islands of Papua New Guinea. The kula ring consisted of a series
of exchange partners in a circle of island groups. They traded conus
shell armlets, which passed around the circle in one direction,
with red shell necklaces, which were exchanged in the opposite direction.
View database record
1933.40.18
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