Beads from the Shrope Site, 14CO331
Date: 1400-1725 CE
A salvage excavation was conducted at the Shrope site in Cowley County by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and crew in 1995. The shell bead shown here, and numerous artifacts, were recovered from deep within a bell-shaped pit. The mussel shell is delicate and great care must have been taken to create the oval hole and shape the bead. The bone bead was found at shallower depths in a different pit. Both ends of a bird bone have been scored, snapped and smoothed to create the bead. The Shrope site was a large Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) village. Forty-one archeological features, such as storage pits, hearths, and post molds, were uncovered at the site.

Bone and Shell Beads from 14SA423
Date: 1000-1500 CE
These two beads were recovered from the surface of an archeological site on the bank of an old stream meander in Saline County. They were donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2017. The shell bead was likely crafted from a mussel shell. The bone bead was made of a bird bone.

Button Blank from the Last Chance Store, 14MO367
Date: 1857-1945
This small wooden button blank would have been used to create shell buttons, most likely for use on infant's clothing. It was recovered during the excavations at the 2016 Kansas Archeology Training Program at the Last Chance Store in Council Grove. Shell buttons were most popular from the late 1800s until World War II, when plastic buttons began to dominate the market. The Last Chance Store was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Decorated Mussel Shell from the Paint Creek Site, 14MP1
Date: 1500-1800 CE
This modified shell was recovered from the Paint Creek site in McPherson County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2020. The artifact was made from local mussel shell and may have been intended for an ornament or game piece. The Paint Creek site is part of the Little River focus of the Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita and Affiliated Tribes), whose people practiced fishing, hunting, gathering, and agriculture.

Early Excavations at the Paint Creek Site, 14MP1
Date: 1934
Shown are black and white prints of the excavation at the Paint Creek site and some of the artifacts recovered there. The excavation was undertaken by archeologist Marvin Kivett of the Nebraska State Historical Society and crew. Shown are a young man excavating a pit, a restored pot, and chipped stone tools, bone tools, and shell tools collected from the site in 1934. The Paint Creek site in McPherson County is part of the Little River focus of the Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita), whose people practiced fishing, hunting, gathering, and agriculture.

Hair Pipe from the Fanning Site, 14DP1
Date: 1500-1700 CE
This hair pipe was recovered from the Fanning site, an Early Contact period Kansa village in Doniphan County. Hair pipes were used to decorate hair, or as necklaces, earrings, and in breast plates. It was collected in the 1930s by the University of Nebraska and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1987.

Hair Pipe from the Infinity Site, 14MY305
Date: 1800-1900 CE
This hair pipe was collected from the Infinity site in Montgomery County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1962. The hair pipe was made from a marine shell, the conch found from Bermuda to Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico. Hair pipes were used to decorate hair, or as necklaces, earrings, and in breast plates. The Infinity site is a multicomponent (multiple occupations) site that was occupied periodically from the late Archaic period through the Historic period, with the Historic artifacts found on the surface.

Modified Mussel Shell
Date: Unknown
This fragment of a mussel shell was found along Mill Creek in Wabaunsee County. It was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1925. The hole was cut or drilled into the shell, but it isn't known whether desired result was the shell with a hole in it, or the cut-out portion, which could have been made into a bead or even a button.

Modified Mussel Shell from the Pottawatomi Mission, 14SH325
Date: 1848-1861
This mussel shell half was recovered from the Pottawatomi Mission in Shawnee County during excavations by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and crew in 1975. The hole was cut or drilled into the shell, but it isn't known whether desired result was the shell with a hole in it, or the cut-out portion, which could have been made into a bead or more likely a button. The Mission was built in 1850 with the purpose of teaching Potawatomi children reading, writing, and trade skills. After closing in 1861 the building served multiple purposes. The building and the surrounding land was purchased by the State of Kansas in 1973 and it remains on the site of the Kansas Historical Society.

Modified Mussel Shell from the Sharps Creek Site, 14MP408
Date: 1500-1800 CE
These modified shells were recovered from the Sharps Creek site in McPherson County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2020. They were made from local mussel shell and may have been intended to function as ornaments. The site was a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita and Affiliated Tribes) village occupied during the Late Ceramic period.

Modified Shell from the Curry Site, 14GR301
Date: 1200-1400 CE
This modified shell tool was recovered from the Curry site, a multicomponent (multiple occupations) village in Greenwood County. It was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1984. The tool was made from local mussel shell and was used for piercing other materials.

Olivella Shells from the Lundeen Site, 14MD306
Date: 1237-1435 CE
These Olivella dama shells were recovered during excavations at the 1998 Kansas Archeological Training Program field school in Meade County at the Lundeen site. The marine shells are found on the eastern Pacific Ocean from British Columbia to Baja, California and then traded into the area of the Lundeen site. The site is a Middle Ceramic period camp site that was part of Wilmore Complex.

Pendant and Bead from the Kohr Site, 14SA414
Date: 780860 CE
This pendant fragment and bead, both made of shell, were collected in the 1930s from Kohr House No. 1 at a large village site in Saline County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1971. The Kohr site was occupied by Smoky Hill aspect people and had several rectangular houses. Radiocarbon dates on maize indicate it was occupied during the Early Ceramic period.

Sea Snail Shell from the Radio Lane Site, 14CO385
Date: 1400-1725 CE
This sea snail shell fragment was recovered from the Radio Lane archeological site in Cowley County. The shell is from the virgate Panama cone snail that is native to the Pacific Ocean from Baja California, Mexico to northern Peru. To find this shell in Kansas suggests either trade with people further southwest or, less likely, travel by the people living at the site to that area. The Radio Lane site was a large Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) village. Kansas Historical Society archeologists and crew excavated there during an archeological salvage project in 1995.

Shell Bead from 14SA407
Date: 1000-1500 CE
This shell disk bead was found on the surface of a Middle Ceramic period Smoky Hill aspect camp site in Saline County. It was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2017.

Shell Bead from the Ade Site, 14MP311
Date: 1000-1800 CE
This shell bead was collected from the Ade site in McPherson County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2004. The bead was cut and drilled from a mussel shell. The Ade site was a multicomponent camp site with occupations in the Middle Ceramic, Late Ceramic, and Historic periods.

Shell Bead from the Breckinridge Place Site, 14OB408
Date: 1-1000 CE
These shell beads were recovered from an Osbourne County archeological site occupied during the Early Ceramic period. The shell beads were likely crafted from mussel shell.

Shell Bead from the Macy Site, 14RY38
Date: 2-654 CE
This small shell bead was recovered from the surface at the Macy site in Riley County in 1995 by Kansas Historical Society archeologists. The disk bead was likely manufactured from a mussel shell. The Macy site is a multicomponent camp site that was occupied periodically during the Early Ceramic to Middle Ceramic periods and into Historic times.

Shell Bead from the Wells Site, 14BT404
Date: 1650-1750 CE
This shell bead collected from the Wells village site in Barton County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2021. The shell is delicate and great care must have been taken to create the hole and shape the oval bead. The village site had an abundance of artifacts that reflect not only a Dismal River aspect occupation (1650 - 1750 CE) but also a historic component.

Shell Bead or Modern Reproduction from 14MY318
Date: Unknown
This white bead was recovered on the surface of an archeological site in Montgomery County with multiple occupations during the Early and Middle Ceramic periods. Closer examination of the round bead left Archeologists puzzled. Was it made of shell or was it a quality plastic reproduction mimicking shell-like patterns?

Shell Beads from 14BT429
Date: 1500-1800 CE
This shell bead was collected from an archeological site in Barton County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2021. The tubular bead is called wampum and is made from an Atlantic clam shell and then traded into what is now Kansas.

Shell Beads from 14SA451
Date: 1000-1500 CE
These two shell beads were collected from an Early Ceramic period small camp site in Saline County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2017. Both beads were made on freshwater shell.

Shell Beads from Fool Chief's Village, 14SH305
Date: 1828-1844
These marine shell beads were recovered during excavations at Fool Chief's Village, a Kansa village in Shawnee County. Fool Chief's Village was the site of the 2012 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school, though excavations continued into 2013. These tubular beads are called wampum and are made from an Atlantic clam shell and then traded into the area.

Shell Beads from Riley County
Date: Unknown
These beads were collected in Riley County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1984. The fragile beads were likely crafted from mussel shells.

Shell Beads from the Booth Site, 14CM406
Date: 1400-1499 CE
These shell beads were recovered from the Booth archeological site in Comanche County during the Kansas Archeology Training Program field school in 1989. Both are disc-shaped marine shells. The Booth site has evidence of multiple or long term occupations that are part of the Wilmore complex (1000 - 1500 CE) in western Kansas.