1,200 BC: Cowrie Shells The first use of cowries, the shell of a mollusc that was widely available in the shallow waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, was in China. Historically, many ...

"My siblings and I played in the sand and collected shells and cowries. At home, I would wash them and deeply inhale their smell," says the 64-year-old artist, who has used shells and cowriesâ either ...