Purple and white wampum (miigis shell), and glass beads, also known as imitation wampum, strung upon twine, probably cotton. The colour of the purple wampum has faded.

The belt is 16 warps wide and 250 beads long. The beads were strung after having been recovered from a grave. There is no indication that their configuration is original. Some of the beads are made of glass. The GRASAC team wondered if they also came from the grave, or if they were added upon the belt's reconstruction.

Glass beads, resembling imitation wampum, were in use in the 18th century.

The British Museum object catalogue states this item was made between 1600 and 1850. While a more specific date of manufacture is difficult to determine, the GRASAC research team stated that presence of glass beads suggests it was made in the 18th century.

This belt, part of the Christy Collection, was donated to the British Museum by the institution's keeper, Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, in 1889. It was collected by William A Baker.

Unknown Haudenosaunee artist, wampum belt. Currently in the British Museum, Am,+.4630. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip December 2007; GRASAC item id 26633.

This record was created as part of a Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Cultures (GRASAC) research trip to the Pitt Rivers Museum and British Museum, December 8-22 2007, funded by a grant from the International Opportunities fund of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Researchers present: Heidi Bohaker (HB), John Borrows (JB), Lindsay Borrows (LB), Alan Corbiere (AC), Henrietta Lidchi (HL), Stacey Loyer (SL), Janis Monture (JM), Bruce Morito (BM), Ruth Phillips (RP), Anne De Stecher (AS), Cory Willmott (CW).