Te bure

Te Bure. Egg cowrie shell. This is a bure shell otherwise commonly referred to as the egg cowrie shell (amphiperas ovum). These types of shells are considered rare and used for body adornment such as bure n aonibai (arm ornaments) that would be worn for the ruoia dance. This bure is bulbous in form, an discoloured white in tone with missing fragments from the anterior canal and the mid-section of the inner lip that frames the aperture. A drilled hole has been made upon the mid section area where a fragment of the lip is missing. This could have been made from a terebra shell or te uubai (pump drill). There is a small dark brown circular marking on the centre of the bulbous surface. The interior of the aperture shows remnants of dirt and it is light in weight.