Student in Newfoundland uncovers seven rare 17th-century wampum beads

Archaeology student Callum Brydon of Newfoundland stumbled on seven tiny white-and-purple cylindrical beads called wampum. The beads were buried in a layer of old refuse at the excavation site of the Avalon colony in Ferryland, an early European settlement and trading hub for Indigenous peoples in the 17th century.

Wampum is an English settler term for strings of white shell beads. They were made from quahog shells and other hard-shelled mollusks. Indigenous peoples originally used wampum for ceremonial purposes. For example, belts and necklaces made from these beads recorded messages about major events such as treaties and wars. Later, wampum became a form of currency in trade with colonists. It’s likely these beads reached the Avalon colony through that trade.

Researchers call the seven beads a rare find. The artifacts shed new light on relationships between Canada’s Indigenous peoples and European colonists.

What else is known about the discovery?

Archaeologist Barry Golton, a professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, told Live Science that the refuse containing the wampum had sat in a storage area connected to a historic residential building in Ferryland for centuries.

“In over 30 years of archaeological research at the Avalon colony, no wampum has ever been found. As far as we know, these beads have never been discovered in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador,” Professor Golton said.

The beads’ style and manufacturing indicate they were made around 1600. Wampum likely arrived in Ferryland during the 1640s to 1650s, Golton said.

The Avalon colony was established by the British in 1621. It was one of the first European colonies in North America. A few years later, settlers abandoned Avalon because of harsh winters and conflicts with Indigenous people. In the 1630s the colony was resettled and became a center for fishing and trade. Today the site is part of the town of Ferryland.

During excavations that began in the 1980s, archaeologists have uncovered tens of thousands of artifacts. These include fragments of English, Dutch, and German ceramics, glassware, clay pipes, iron knives and spoons, muskets, and settlers’ jewelry. Researchers have also found remnants of cobblestone streets, part of a marine embankment that protected buildings from erosion and high waves, and the ruins of a large estate that may have belonged to the first governor of the province.