ABSTRACT
This chapter examines non-monetary functions of cowrie shells across the world. It begins with a general summary of the social and cultural functions of cowrie shells, and then focuses on the colonial discussions concerning the meaning of cowrie shells during the 1930s and 1940s when cowrie money largely disappeared from the world. Western observations and interpretations of cowrie use were largely confined within a western analytical framework in which the principal uses of cowries were understood to be as a protection against the evil eye or as a symbol of fertility. Finally, this chapter concludes with a few cases illustrating the legacy of cowrie shells and cowrie money in contemporary societies, especially in West Africa and the African diaspora, thus glimpsing how the cowrie trade and cowrie money have created neo-traditions.
