scallop

A small object can be easily overlooked, but sometimes the smallest objects have the largest stories. Buried deep within the hills of California’s interior, far away from any ocean breeze, archaeologists have found a small, round bead carved from a giant rock scallop shell. The tiny bead is having a big impact on the history of ancient California trade. How did an ancient shell bead travel 42 miles inland? Archaeologists discovered the bead in the Turkey Flat archaeological site in southeastern Monterey County, more than 42 miles from the nearest coastline. That distance raises many questions about its inland location. Carved from the shell of the giant rock scallop, Crassadoma gigantea, the bead came from a species that doesn’t live