The Wampanoags did not use any mechanical devices, such as whistles or drums for sending messages. Instead, they used their voices to call out information. When news had to be transmitted beyond shouting distance, a messenger was sent. If he had trouble locating his destination he would give a shout when he thought himself a mile or so away, and answering calls would guide him to the village he sought.[327] Since they had no system of writing, all information that was to be passed on to other people, whether news of the day or tribal tradition, had to be memorized. To help in this task pre-literate societies sometimes use mnemonic devices. The Wampanoag had such a practice. Along the side of trails, near the place where some event of historical significance had occurred, they dug small holes, about a foot deep and a foot wide to mark the spot. These were meticulously re-excavated when they seemed to be filling in. As a Wampanoag passed through his country the sight of these markers reminded him of the stories they represented. Thus reminded, he would tell them to others.[328] EXCHANGE =Gift Giving=: Dances were held periodically, and at these the dancers would dole out presents such as wampum, to the spectators. Each man who was to dance would take his turn at it, giving away his possessions bit by bit until he had no more to give and was exhausted from dancing.[329] At the Nickomo feast, held in the winter, the person giving the feast, besides providing food for perhaps hundreds of people (the size of the guest list depended upon what one could afford to pay for) presented goods and money to his guests.[330] Upon receipt of the gift, the guest would call out three times an invocation for the prosperity of his host.[331] =Trade=: The several groups of Indians of southeastern New England traded among themselves in pottery vessels, wooden bowls, bows, arrows, pipes, shell money, stone bowls, skins, and food products of the hunt and the fields.[332] The manufacture of some of these items appears to have been specialized according to local group. That is, the women of one locality seem to have made cooking pots, and these were traded to the women of other groups.[333] Wooden bowls seem to have been the specialty of the Wampanoags. Soapstone pipes and bowls were produced by the Narragansetts and were traded north at least to Cape Cod.[334] At a time that was probably early in the seventeenth century the Narragansetts also took over the production of wampum for the region. Craftsmen spent the summer collecting suitable shells and the winter making the beads.[335] Trade in furs among Indian groups was not highly developed prior to the arrival of Europeans. It seems to have been mainly a matter of trading for kinds of skins that were scarce or finer than those in one’s own territory.[336] Food was probably traded according to need. It was also traded on the basis of geographical location, coastal tribes exchanging with interior tribes.[337]