A slave ship carried the equivalent today of hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of trade goods. Indian cotton cloth was the most important part of the cargo, but guns, brassware, glassware, beads, alcohol, tools and trinkets were also traded in exchange for enslaved Africans and the food to feed them on the Transatlantic crossing. Europeans traded these shells from East Africa, via Europe, to West Africa. Africans used them as money and for decoration on clothing. This belt, made in the early 1900s, shows status and wealth.