Tabu is a form of shell money used by the Tolai people of the Gazelle Peninsula on New Britain island in Papua New Guinea, made from small nassa shells threaded in long lengths onto lengths of cane and traditionally measured by fathom-like units of arm span. Beyond serving as a practical medium of exchange for everyday goods, tabu carries deep ceremonial significance and is required in large quantities for bride price payments, funerary compensation, and other major life-cycle and social obligations, its accumulation and display serving as a central marker of a person's wealth and standing within Tolai society. Tabu remains in active use alongside Papua New Guinea's national currency today, one of the best-documented and longest-surviving traditional currencies still functioning as genuine money in daily and ceremonial economic life, and it is frequently cited in economic anthropology as a case study of a durable, non-state currency operating in parallel with a modern cash economy.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Tabu, the shell-string currency of the Tolai people of New Britain, functioned as a recognized medium of exchange and store of value, a documented form of money.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.