|
Puka shells originally were naturally occurring bead-like objects which can be found on some beaches in Hawaii. Each one was the beach-worn apex of a cone snail shell, a kind of seashell from a sea snail. ''Puka'' is the Hawaiian word for "hole" and refers to the naturally occurring hole in the middle of these rounded and worn shell fragments. These natural beads were made into necklaces. Numerous inexpensive imitations are now widely sold as puka shell necklaces. The majority of these are not made from cone shells, but from other shells, or even from plastic. IN addition, some strings of beads are currently sold that are made from cone shells, but the beads in these necklaces were not formed by natural processes. They were instead worked by hand from whole shells using pliers to break the shell down to the needed part, and then subjected the rough results to tumble finishing, in order to give each bead more or less smooth edges in imitation of the natural wear and tear a shell receives when tumbled in the surf for long periods of time. The original all-natural puka shells were very easily made into necklaces, bracelets and anklets because they already had a hole, which enabled them to be strung like beads. Puka shell jewellery first became a popular item in Hawaii during the 1960s, as an attractive and inexpensive lei which could be made sold right on the beach where it was made. In the 1970s, this type of shell jewelry became highly sought after, and prices skyrocketed. The craftsmanship also became more refined and the ''lei pūpū puka'', puka shell leis were strung in graduated or matching styles, rather than the original random patterns. Many "legends" about the puka shell were created during this time, and these stories also helped sales. ==Natural puka shell formation== The shell of a cone snail is cone-shaped, and closed at the larger end. When the dead shell is rolled for a long time by the waves in the breaking surf and coral rubble, the narrow part of the shell breaks off or is gradually ground off, leaving only the more solid top of the shell intact. Given enough time, the tip of the spire of the shell usually also wears down, and thus a natural hole is formed from one side to the other. This shell fragment can be viewed as a sort of a natural bead, and is known in Hawaii as a "puka". Real puka shells are not flat: one side of the bead is slightly convex; the other is concave. The concave side of the bead clearly shows the spiral form of the interior of the spire of the cone shell. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Puka shell」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|