Papua New Guinea, Abelam Tribe, Necklace from Disks of Small Conus Snail Shells with Animal Teeth and Mossel Parts This necklace is made from small Conus snail shell discs, larger pieces of clam shells and canine teeth of dogs. The Abelam people of the Sepik province in Papua New Guinea use it as marriage transaction money up to this day. Clams, snails and animal teeth functioned as all-purpose money in Papua New Guinea well into the 1960s. Canine teeth from dogs, for example, were precious because their number was limited: every dog only delivered four of them. Clams and snails, on the other hand, were appreciated because they involved a whole lot of work. Craftspeople usually did not use the whole shells but broke them into small fractions. Those were roughly rounded by breaking off the corners, pierced and beaded on a string. Then the shell slivers were scrubbed with a grindstone until they were totally rounded.