0 a small sea creature with a soft body and a brightly coloured shell, or the shell itself used in the past as money in parts of Africa and southern Asia: --
a cowrie shell
In the living cowries the mantle is grey-brown and almost transparent, with long whitish tree-shaped papillae.
A piece may enter the board on any throw of the cowries and moves to the square corresponding to the throw.
In the living cowries mantle and foot are quite developed, with external antennae.
In the living cowries the mantle is dark brown and may cover the entire shell.
Cattle were very important: they were the main means of exchange, alongside cowrie shells (chisimbi).
The eyes are created using cowrie shells with a bitumen pupil.
The ornaments are made of cowries and conch shells.
The grave contained a flexed burial and over 200 iron beads, an ostrich eggshell necklace, a perforated cowrie shell, and iron jewellery.
