ABSTRACT
Many underdeveloped societies of the world have no written records prior to European contact. It is therefore often difficult to reconstruct the economic and social system as it then operated. The most striking fact which emerges from all early accounts of the Tolai is their extensive use of shell money. ‘The name of this money on the Duke of York group is Diwara. On New Britain it is called Tambu’. Tambu consists of small shells about 1/3 in diameter. From an economic point of view the accumulation of large amounts of tambu must be regarded as an aim in itself rather than a means to an end. The rich had hardly any greater or different range of commodities at their disposal than the poor. Wealth did act as a means to an end in the social and political sphere. It was associated with power and prestige.
