Context (Other owners)
The object was deposited at the Museum on 18/3/1914. Information taken from 'Source Year' field.
Event Date 18/3/1914
Author: Remke Velden

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Context (References)
cf Shawcross, Wilfred. “THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY COLLECTION OF MAORI ARTEFACTS, MADE ON CAPTAIN COOK’S FIRST VOYAGE.” The Journal of the Polynesian Society, vol. 79, no. 3, 1970, pp. 305–48 (pp. 331-332.).
JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20704718.
Event Date 1970
Author: rachel hand

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Context (References)
cf 'Artificial Curiosities' (1978), A. Kaeppler, p.179. Kaeppler designates this as an ivory cloak pin. However, according to the original UCMAA Deposit Book Accession Register it is a shell necklace. The cloak pin is probably that described as 1914.44 in the Deposit Book. The necklace is probably one of those described as 1914.37-39 by Kaeppler (p.177).
S
Event Date 1978
Author: rachel hand

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Description (Physical description)
Necklace of distinct varieties of shell.
Event Date 2/7/1993
Author: maa

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Context (Acquisition Details)
The Captain Cook Collection, comprising eighty three objects, was originally presented to Trinity College by the Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty; Collected by: Cook.Captain.J in 1771.
There are two records for D 1914.41. One in Archaeology is a medieval girdle end from Cambridge. One in Anthropology is a shell necklace from New Zealand, in the Cook collection.
Also see 'The Moari Collection at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology' by Peter Gathercole in 'Taonga Maori Conference' (1990). (J.Tanner, November 1998).
Cook Collection: Captain James Cook undertook three world voyages around the globe from 1768 - 1779. The stated purpose of the first voyage (1768-1771) on the HMS Endeavour was to send a Royal Society team to observe the transit of the planet Venus from the vantage point of newly discovered Tahiti. However, the primary governmental motivation behind the first expedition was to establish the existence of ' Terra Australis Incognita' or the ' Great Southern Continent' , which was believed to exist in order to balance the great northern land mass. Cook set sail from Plymouth on Friday 26th August 1768 and headed to South America, round Cape Horn and westwards to carry out the experiment in Tahiti, and then went on to circumnavigate the globe in pursuit of the presumed continent.
The purpose of the second voyage (1772-1775) on the HMS Resolution and the HMS Adventure was to extend the search for the ' southern continent' . They sailed from Plymouth on 27 June 1772 and headed directly south past Cape Town and then set out on an eastward course of circumnavigation, crossing the Antartic Circle several times en route in an effort to seek the imagined continent.
The third voyage (1776-1780) on the HMS Resolution and the HMS Discovery, was concerned with the search for a Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They sailed from Plymouth on 13th July 1772, heading first for the Society Islands from whence they set course to search for the Northwest Passage. However, Cook was killed in Hawaii in 1779 and his command was taken up by Charles Clerke.
More than 2000 extant pieces can be traced from Cook' s voyages (Kaeppler:1978), of which UCMAA has 215 identified objects. The majority of the material at UCMAA was collected from the Pacific, but also includes objects from the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America, the Northeast Coast of Asia and Tierra del Fuego in South America. Furthermore, all the three voyages are represented by objects in UCMAA' s collection. (J. Tanner, 1999).
Event Date 2/7/1993
Author: maa

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Context (Amendments / updates)
This record D 1914.41 relates to a necklace (AR. D 1914.38). Please see separate records for necklaces D 1914.40 (AR D 1914.37) and D 1914.42 (AR. D 1914.39) and calcite pendant D 1914.43 (AR. D 1914.40).
Catalogue card reads [handwritten in black ink:] 'Dep. 14.40/41/42 N. Zealand. Three Necklaces of distinct varieties of shell. Cook Colln. Ex. Trin. Coll.'; [later addition handwritten in blue ball point:] '.40 [D 1914.43] whitish ‘bead’ with pink / purple traces, and dirt in a few ‘pock’ marks. Loop at top w. leather or skin through it (strap in 2 pieces now). More the weight of stone than shell.

Pictured as Tahitian in Kaeppler, Artificial Curiousities [sic] 1978. S. Phelps thinks possibly New Zealand [continued on back of card] 40 cont: or even more likely, NW Coast (America) or Eskimo. Not labelled in typical Trin. Coll. fashion, although perhaps too small: has yellow dot w. ink no. - how did they know it was NZ ['D 1914.40?' inserted underneath]? Also where are 41 + 42? (AC 10.[19]79]';

[later addition handwritten in pencil:] ' This object is D 1914.43 [referring to bead/pendant]. It was wrongly marked with its Annual Report number - D 1914.40. It is obviously not [underlined] a shell necklace. It is part of the Cook Collection from New Zealand. J. Somerville Dec. 2008.'
Event Date 28/3/2013
Author: Heather Donoghue

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Description (Physical description)
Deposit Register notes for D 1914.40-42 'Three shell necklaces/ New Zealand'.
The Annual report for D 1914.37- 39 "three necklaces of distinct varieties of shell".
D 1914.41 (mis-numbered on the object with the AR number 'TC 14.38') is a double string of dentalium, white univalve shells, interspersed with single or pairs of brown beads of an unknown material, probably the chitious tube of a sea worm.
The string may originally have been a double or triple string, as there are several projecting lengths of beads. The second shorter string is incomplete. Strung on reddish brown plant fibre, potentially flax.
It is also possible that beads on the re-strung necklace, D 1914.42, belong to the current object, rather than being a complete object in its own right.

Wilfred Shawcross (1970. Vol. 79, No. 3, p. 332), notes, 'No. 38 necklace- The identification as Maori is based on the fibre of the string, which appears to be that of New Zealand flax. The beads consist of single dentalium tubes placed alternately with pairs of brown tubes. These I cannot identify but they may be sections of antennae of some large insect as suggested by Dr Haddon.'
See also a similar necklace in the Pitt Rivers Museum, 1886.1.1568, who notes that brown beads '[appear] Under the microscope... smooth and translucent, almost resinous in appearance, being reminiscent of horn or chitin - possibly the chitinous tube of a sea worm...
Darren Mann, entomologist at the OUNHM, is of the opinion that these beads are not insect-derived. He agrees that they may be formed from the chitious tube of a sea worm. [JU 30/04/2013]' See http://objects.prm.ox.ac.uk/pages/PRMUID25943.html accesseded 26/11/2015

Event Date 25/11/2015
Author: maa

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Context (CMS Context)
Jean Somerville (later Beard), examined and updated the documentation of the Trinity College material when updating the Maori database records. She noted in March 2010 that 'T.C 38 stands for 'Trinity College Collection 38' which should be D 1914.41 as this is a confusion of AR D 1914.38, the Annual Report number of this necklace.
This means the necklace is from New Zealand and not Tierra del Fuego. The description of this necklace, given by Shawcross (p. 332), also exactly matches this necklace.' The Annual report for D 1914.37- 39 "three necklaces of distinct varieties of shell".
D 1914.41 (mis-numbered on the object as the AR number 'TC 14.38') is a double string of dentalium, (white univalve shells) interspersed with single and pairs of brown beads.'
The provenance of this necklace has become rather confused. There are several labels associated with this object, although the first label may be erroneously attached as it refers to the Widdicombe House collection, not the Trinity College collection. However, only the third label references the Trinity College accession number, though the object is physically marked 'TD 14.38'
Label 1: Small rectangular paper label in Baron von Hugel's hand, written in black ink, 'Dep 12, 1922/ 2nd Widdicombe/ Coll/ Property of the Curator'. On the reverse in pencil, 'Dentalium/ shell./ ?N.W. Coast.'
This refers to the Widdicombe House collections given by Louis Clarke and Baron and Baroness von Hugel, mainly in 1922. Much of this material can be traced to the Leverian Museum, via the works of artist Sarah Stone. The object this label refers to cannot at this stage be identified or located. Label 2: A modern, early- mid 20th century, circular, paper label edged in metal which reads in black pen. 'Cook Coll/ Tiera del Fuego' and on the reverse in pencil 'T.C./ 14.38'.
This is an incorrect reference to the Annual report number.
Label 3: A modern late 20th/ early 21st Century acid-free yellow paper label, which bears a confused amalgamation of the previous 2 labels, 'Dep. 12.1922/ STRING OF DENTALIUM (BROKEN) SHELLS COOK COLL / TIERRA DEL FUEGO./ 2ND WIDDICOMBE COLL./ TC 14.38'

Kat Szabo, University of Wollongong, Centre for Archaeological Science, noted in 2011 that ‘the shells were mollusc tubes of the Dentalium genus (scaphopods – like tusk). The brown beads look like some plant fibre or insect used for shell money in the NWC. They are definitely NOT bone or stone. Not sure if it comes from Tierra del Fuego but it is not likely to come from the Pacific.’

Wilfred Shawcross in the Journal of Polynesian Society, Vol. 79, No. 3, Sept 1970, p. 332, notes, 'No. 38 necklace- The identification as Maori is based on the fibre of the string, which appears to be that of New Zealand flax. The beads consist of single dentalium tubes placed alternately with pairs of brown tubes. These I cannot identify but they may be sections of antennae of some large insect as suggested by Dr Haddon.'

See Pitt Rivers Museum, 1886.1.1568, for a similar necklace, which is recorded in their on-line research notes as 'The brown beads do not appear to be made of shell. Under the microscope, they appear smooth and translucent, almost resinous in appearance, being reminiscent of horn or chitin - possibly the chitinous tube of a sea worm. They have been described by Haddon (quoted in The Journal of the Polynesian Society Volume 79 1970, Volume 79, No. 3,'The Cambridge University Collection of Maori Artefacts, made on Captain Cook's first voyage', by Wilfred Shawcross, p 305 - 348) as being sections of the antenna of large insects. [JU 05/09/2012]

Darren Mann, entomologist at the OUNHM, is of the opinion that these beads are not insect-derived. He agrees that they may be formed from the chitious tube of a sea worm. [JU 30/04/2013]' (See http://objects.prm.ox.ac.uk/pages/PRMUID25943.html accessed 26/11/2015)

Event Date 25/11/2015
Author: Rachel Hand

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Description (CMS Description)
A duplicate record, using the incorrect accession number E 1914.38 [and also referencing D 1914.38; 1922.12] noted 'String of dentalium (broken) shells. Marked Cook Collection. Second Widdicombe Collection. [undated MAA description]

A "Broken. Some of the beads are detached. Becoming unstrung." S-J Harknett. 2/5/2000'. These records are now amalgamated.
Event Date 26/11/2015
Author: maa

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Context (Labels & Markings)
The labels are confusing and may have been attributed to the wrong object, or the object in turn misattributed to Trinity College
Label 1- Rectangular paper label noting Dep.12 1922/ 2nd Widdicome/ Coll/ Property of Curator'. On the reverse in pencil, 'Dentalium/ shell./ ?N.W. Coast'
These types of label are found on material from the Widdicombe house 1922 collection, mainly acquired from Louis Clarke, but with some pieces given by Baron and Baroness von Hugel too. Some of the collection bears labels noting a 1922 deposit but no documentation on this deposit has yet been located.

Label 2- Circular label with metal rim, 'Cook coll./ Tierra del Fuego' and on the reverse 'T.C./ 14.38'. These are more modern labels, and probably post 1930.
Event Date 11/1/2017
Author: Rachel Hand

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Context (Physical description)
Kat Szabo, University of Wollongong, Centre for Archaeological Science, noted on 5th February 2016 for both D 1914.41 and D 1914.42 that 'These could be from New Zealand', as suggested by the Pitt Rivers for a similar necklace 1886.1.1568 noted above.
That piece is described as a 'Necklace of dentalium shell and other unidentified material. These have been strung in an alternating pattern of one white, followed by two brown beads. The two brown beads are always strung parallel to one another'. Their database adds that 'Darren Mann, entomologist at the OUNHM, is of the opinion that these beads are not insect-derived. He agrees that they may be formed from the chitious tube of a sea worm. [JU 30/04/2013]'.

However, Kat noted that the brown 'beads' are in fact arthropods and 'are not sea worm as they are chitinous and sea worms have a calcium cabonate base.'
Event Date 11/1/2017
Author: Rachel Hand

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Context (Physical description)
Kat Szabo, University of Wollongong, Centre for Archaeological Science, noted in July 2011 for both D 1914.41 and D 1914.42 that 'The origin is unclear from the materials. The shells are tusk shells in class Scaphopoda, genus Dentalium. Species of dentalium are found around the world, but as shell artefacts/currency are largely associated with Pacific Northwst Cultures of North America. The brown beads are completely mysterious and may be plan or arthropod.'
Event Date 11/1/2017
Author: Rachel Hand

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Context (Found together / assemblage)
There is a fragment similar to this necklace currently kept with Solomon Island material. This fragment should be compared with the object in the future.
Event Date 7/11/2017
Author: Lucie Carreau

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Research Visit (Anthropology Photographs)
RES.2018.2512 | Ancient Futures Project. The Ancient Futures Research Team comprises of Tongan Artists and specialists in Tongan history, material culture and museum collections. Researching a variety of Tongan objects, including barkcloth and clubs.
Event Date 10/10/2018
Author: Remke Velden

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Context (Analysis)
Ancient Futures research group (2018) in response to a provenance query from MAA staff: 'The group hasn't seen necklaces like this, they do not appear Tongan.'
Event Date 9/10/2018
Author: Remke Velden

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Research Visit (Anthropology)
RES.2018.2506 |
Event Date 20/9/2018
Author: Remke Velden

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Description (Physical description)
Mata Aho Collective (2018): ‘The internal cord on which the beads are strung is made of flax.'
Event Date 20/9/2018
Author: Remke Velden