Dr. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer discusses some of the earliest trade items linking coastal, interior Indus and distant regions together. They were also important public symbols of identify, gender, wealth, status and ethnicity. This illustrated lecture covers Indus relationships with the Gulf, Mesopotamia and Central Asia and how shell ornaments may have illustrated various ideologies and roles in ancient societies. Dr. Kenoyer's expertise with shell goes back to his dissertation, so he is able to tie together new finds in the larger context of research since then in a variety of sites including the new ones like Rakigarhi in India. A comprehensive, chronological view that speaks to the innovation and sophistication of ancient societies.