There are several interesting facts about the beads from elite contexts. First, the number of beads in some burials is absolutely staggering! Note, for example, the number of beads used in for the chief's cape or blanket in Mound 72. Second, many beads are made of shell found only on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts (i.e., Marginella and Busycon). Finely made marine shell beads, East St. Louis mound group.

Marine shell (Marginella) and original matrix, East St Louis mound group. Poorly finished shell beads, Kunnemann Mound, Cahokia site.

Whelk shell fragments, Bobby Becker site.

But perhaps what is most curious about shell beads from elite contexts is the wide range of bead quality and finish. Very few are symmetrical, perfectly round, and highly polished. This fact is counter-intuitive if the Mississippian elite were employing craftsmen to produce goods fashioned from exotic materials as some have argued. An indication of the scarcity of many shells is that if mistakes were made in manufacture, the pieces were repaired but not discarded. Thus, it seems that quantity and not quality was the main consideration. It may also be significant that the complete marine shells and pieces of manufacturing debris typically display holes, tracks, and other defects. This fact hardly argues convincingly for a Cahokia elite with expansive powers and trading influence throughout the southeast. A special class of merchants or traders who travelled to the coastal sources does not seem to be indicated. Rather, than sending traders south to acquire marine shell, it is possible that the Cahokia elite had to make do with the shell it could obtain from its neighbors in a long chain of "down the line" exchanges.

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