Stone beads

The countries covered in this section include: Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. See also the two specialized theme bibliographies and the General/Miscellaneous bibliography as they also contain reports dealing with these countries.

This section covers all the countries of South and Central America, including Mexico, and all the Caribbean islands. For lack of a better place, Bermuda has been included herein as well. See also the two specialized theme bibliographies and the General/Miscellaneous bibliography as they may also contain reports dealing with these countries.

This section covers the continental United States and Canada. For references published prior to 1985, see the two bibliographies prepared by Karklins and Sprague, q.v. See also the two specialized theme bibliographies and the General/Miscellaneous bibliography as they also contain reports dealing with these countries.

Abompe is the current bauxite beadmaking site in Ghana and the hills of the Kwahu Plateau above the village are pocked with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pits dug in search of the raw material. To determine the age of the beadmaking industry in the region, people in Abompe and other villages were interviewed and related stories that suggest the first beadmakers were following the example of people in or around Bepong, a village on the plateau above Abompe. Three areas of bauxite pits on the Kwahu Plateau were investigated to see if there was physical evidence of ancient mining; those currently used by Abompe people and those previously dug by Bepong and Adasowase people. Four boulders with polished upper surfaces were found in the Abompe mining area and are believed to represent large-scale bead polishing. Caves where miners occasionally stay overnight were explored and evidence of bead production in the form of chipping waste was found. Pit counts by transect at Odumparara Bepo, the Abompe mining area, suggest the presence of possibly as many as 4,700 pits. These appear to have been created in the past 100 years.

Although previously unrecognized, South India was once home to a major stone-beadmaking industry. At its zenith in the early centuries A.D., it exported beads eastward to other parts of Asia and westward to the Roman Empire. South Indian gems were of such importance to the Roman West that the region deserves the title of "Treasure Chest of the Ancient World." Research has identified the probable sources of nearly all the raw materials used, the lapidary centers, and the trade routes over which the finished beads would have traveled. Additionally, it has revealed that the principal participants in the industry were the Pandukal people, opening a new chapter on the widening understanding of this community.

"The megalithic tomb at Montelirio is off the scale in more ways than one. As well as being the largest example of its type known in Spain, the burial goods secreted in its subterranean chambers are unsurpassed in both quantity and quality. Leonardo García Sanjuán reveals what the dead of Montelirio can tell us about Copper Age society."

This section of the bibliography deals with beadmaking technology, ancient and modern, around the world. To facilitate searches, the entries have been assigned to the following categories: Glass; Faience; Metal; Stone; Shell; Eggshell; Bone, Ivory, Antler, and Horn; Seeds and Nuts; and Mixed Materials.

The year 2006 marks the 80th anniversary of the presentation of a “Classification and Nomenclature of Beads and Pendants” by Horace C. Beck to the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1926. It was subsequently published in the society’s journal Archaeologia in 1928 (vol. 77, pp. 1-76). While it is somewhat out of date, it nevertheless remains a classic in its field and is still the only comprehensive work that deals with the classification of beads of complex shapes and forms. The version presented here replicates the original 1928 version with the addition of an addendum that presents corrections and additions made to the manuscript by Beck up to 1934.

The Bead Forum: Newsletter of the Society of Bead Researchers was initiated in 1982 by Peter Francis, Jr., to facilitate communication between bead researchers. Over the years it has provided news about the society, announcements of relevant exhibitions, conferences, and recent publications, requests for information, memorials, and short articles and news items on various aspects of bead research. The two latter contain much useful information that is, unfortunately, not readily available to many researchers who do not own the set or have forgotten what is in the earlier issues. Furthermore, few libraries and museums have full sets in their collections. To resolve this situation, a broad selection of the articles and other items that appeared in the first forty issues are reprinted in this volume of Beads where they will be readily available in a more permanent format. While some of the material is dated, it is nevertheless interesting from a historical research perspective. Obsolete contact information has been deleted from some items and updated information has been added to others.

Questioning what types of beads would have been in use during the Iron Age in Britain and drawing deeply from the work of the late bead researcher Margaret Guido I’ve amassed a collocation of information which one can draw from not just for bead information concerning the Iron Age Celts in the Isles, but also for those interested in Celtic adornment and bead reproduction.  Please note, my citing is poor the majority of information and many of the pictures have come from Guido’s work ‘The Glass Beads of the Prehistoric and Roman Periods in Britain and Ireland’, (London:  The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1978).  I want to thank not just Guido for her amass of research, but also a wealth of museums and other sources for their invaluable photos, many of which I have to note are copyright protected.

This section of the bibliography encompasses the entire continent of Africa with the exception of Egypt which is included in the Middle East. Also included are islands off the east and west coast of Africa such as St. Helena and the Canary Islands. See also the two specialized theme bibliographies and the General/Miscellaneous bibliography as they also contain reports dealing with these countries.

The countries covered in this section include: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Crimea, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia (Czech Republic), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia (west of the Urals), San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Udmurtia, Ukraine, and United Kingdom. See also the two specialized theme bibliographies and the General/Miscellaneous bibliography as they also contain reports dealing with these countries.

The countries covered in this section include: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen. See also the two specialized theme bibliographies and the General/Miscellaneous bibliography as they also contain reports dealing with these countries.

Статья посвящена анализу бус из позднескифского некрополя Красный Маяк на Нижнем Днепре, исследованном Позднескифской археологической экспедицией ИА НАН Украины в 2011-2013 гг. при участии автора. Рассматривается возможность использования бус в качестве хроноиндикатора.

The countries covered in this section include: China, Japan, Korea (North and South), Mongolia, eastern Russia (Siberia), Taiwan, and Tibet. See also the two specialized theme bibliographies and the General/Miscellaneous bibliography as they also contain reports dealing with these countries.

The mining archaeological excavations in Veshnaveh were among the first systematic of their kind in Iran. This is surprising, since the site itself had been known and described since the 1970s, but could not be investigated thoroughly until the early 2000s. The joint Iranian-German research in Veshnaveh was carried out as a part of the “Early Min- ing and Metallurgy in West-Central Iran” project, which had been continued until 2005. In this context, the mining area of Veshnaveh was comprehensively researched and, for the first time, underground excavations and surveys were carried out in the vicinity of the mining area.
During our research of the mining evidence, it was the more surprising to discover ritual re-use of a Bronze Age copper mine. The excavations from 2001 onwards made it immediately clear that these deposits were not part of mining debris as one would have expected for mining activities. The findings suggested a different con- text and it was clear that this was a special rural sanc- tuary of pre- and early Zoroastrian cults.

To better understand, classify, date, and interpret the beads they are researching, archaeologists, ethnologists, museologists, collectors, and others need to have a good grasp of the relevant literature. Unfortunately, while several bibliographies have been prepared in the past that relate to North America (Karklins and Sprague 1980, 1987), nothing has been prepared to supplement them and nothing comprehensive has been prepared for the rest of the world. This annotated bibliography is intended to alleviate that situation. The inclusions are generally restricted to items published after 1985.

The countries covered in this section include: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. See also the two specialized theme bibliographies and the General/Miscellaneous bibliography as they also contain reports dealing with these countries.

During the last few years, Indian archaeologists have concentrated their efforts on the investigation of sites of the 3rd to 2nd millennia B.C. in the Mewar region of western India. Unfortunately, most of the excavations have been focused on understanding the cultural sequence, settlement patterns, architecture, and pottery at the sites and have neglected the study of such important artifact categories as beads. As no final reports have been published and the excavations have been carried out by different agencies, reconstructing the bead culture of this area is very difficult. We know quite a bit about the beads of the urban Harappans but know practically nothing about those used by the contemporary rural Chalcolithic people. This paper discusses the beads recovered from a number of Chalcolithic sites, with emphasis on the oldest village in India-Balathal.

This paper explores a connection between Taxila and North India by examining stone beads from Taxila. Morphological and technological features of the beads from Bhir Mound and Sirkap point to close similarities to the examples from North India, which indicate the introduction of stone bead tradition from North India during the late first millennium BCE and early first millennium CE. Further studies on the archaeological remains from Taxila must be oriented to reveal understanding better how the connection with North India developed and examining different types of artefacts to reveal the strategic position and dynamic nature of the sites of Taxila connecting not only with North India but also with different parts of South Asia and Central Asia using scientific analyses.

This article was first presented at the British Museum Symposium on Man Nature & Art, 6-8 September 2001. Submitted to the "East Asia Journal: studies in material culture" in 2005, it has been accepted but is yet to appear. This version is the author’s preprint.

The archaeological data traditionally utilized in considering the beginnings of symbol use by humans are described here as inadequate for this purpose. It is contended that Pleistocene finds of several types imply the use of symboling for at least several hundred millennia. Such empirical evidence includes the maritime colonization of various landmasses up to one million years ago, which is thought to demand the use of language and relatively complex technology; and the temporal distribution of first pigment use, beads and pendants, as well as engravings and proto‐figurines during the Middle Pleistocene. The introduction of iconic referrers is chronologically placed into the same period. It is argued that the cognitive evolution of hominins has been neglected in favor of less suitable indicators of humanness, such as cranial shape and perceived stone tool typology. This paper presents an alternative approach to reviewing the evolution of human cognition and symbol use.

Analyses of a sample of 68 carnelian and agate beads from Korea’s late Proto-Three Kingdoms and Three Kingdoms period (C.E. 100–668) provide evidence for long distance exchange with South Asia. Three Kingdoms period elites were rejecting locally made stone beads made of local materials for stone beads obtained from long distance trade and made of non-local materials. Some of these beads may also be derived from South, Central, or Southeast Asia as well as from regions of modern China or Mongolia. The beads were recovered from burials at sites associated with the Paekche (RR: Baekje), Kaya (RR: Gaya), and Silla cultural traditions. There have been no local bead workshops found during the Three Kingdoms period and the carnelian beads were manufactured using different drilling technologies compared to earlier Korean drilling. Faceted hexagonal, spherical, and irregularly shaped carnelian beads were perforated using diamond drills, a technology originally developed in South Asia ca. 600 B.C.E. Quantitative analyses
of drill hole size and overall size and shape of the beads points to, multiple workshops supplying the imported beads. The distribution patterns of the beads in different polities may reflect changes in trade networks over time as well as stylistic choices of bead shapes used as a means of differentiating specific groups or individuals. Evidence for string wear and external weathering indicate that some beads were used for long periods of time enroute to Korea or in Korea itself before burial in mortuary contexts.

Dongola between the 6th and the 17th centuries AD experienced several cultural shifts
from a post-Meroitic center through a capital city of the Christian kingdom of Makuria to a post-
Makurian settlement with encroaching Islam. Beads have always constituted a traditional element
of personal adornment in Nubia and their production, use and circulation did not cease despite
religious, political and social changes in the medieval period. On the contrary, beads and pendants
preserved their ornamental and apotropaic functions and quite probably took on new roles. Moreover,
a material analysis of preserved beads reveals the potential of this small medium in tracing
interaction among medieval cultures.

Recent excavations conducted on historic Creek Indian components at the Tarver (9JO6) and Little Tarver (9JO198) sites in central Georgia produced an extensive collection of European trade material, including a large sample of glass and lapidary beads, pendants, and buttons. The bead collection is significant for its size, as well as the fact that virtually all of the material was recovered from undisturbed and tightly dated burial contexts attributable to the relatively brief period between about 1695 and 1715.

Excavations conducted during the 2009-2014 seasons at the burial site of Sedeinga, Nubia, produced 3,400 beads and pendants of various materials which date to the Late Napatan and Meroitic periods, ca. 400 B.C.-A.D. 300. The chronological, geographical, and political situation of the site made the bead assemblage exceptionally rich in organic and inorganic materials as well as the technologies used to make the objects. During a period dominated by faience and glass in bead production, the use of organics and stones indicates strong links with the neighboring Nubian deserts, an overland connection with the Red Sea coast, and, surprisingly, an interest in the resources of the Nile River. A preliminary assessment of the beads provides more specific evidence to help date some of the Sedeinga tombs. Furthermore, due to known parallels, a few Sedeinga bead types can be associated with specific age groups.

Abstract:

A new medieval culture, called the “Shay culture,” has recently been described in Ethiopia: it is characterized by hypogean and megalithic funerary structures, collective burial practices, and a highly distinctive material culture including funerary potteries. These characters undisputedly define a “Pagan” culture, in a region and at a time (10th-14th c. AD) where Pagans could only face the expansion of Christianity and the development of neighbouring Muslim polities. While documenting some aspects of this cultural entity on archaeological grounds, this articles invites to re-envision the Ethiopian Pagans no longer as “pre-“ Christians and/or “pre-“ Muslims but as historical competitors with, and economic partners of, their neighbours.

Résumé
Une nouvelle culture médiévale, appelée « Shay » a récemment été décrite en Ethiopie ; elle est caractérisée par des structures funéraires hypogées et mégalithiques, des pratiques d’ensevelissement collectif et une culture matérielle hautement reconnaissable, notamment la poterie funéraire. Ces caractères définissent indiscutablement une culture « païenne », dans une région et à une époque (les Xe-XIVe s. AD) où ces Païens firent face à l’expansion du christianisme et au développement de formations politiques islamiques. Tout en documentant certains aspects de cette culture sous le jour de l’archéologie, cet article invite à ré-envisager ces Païens éthiopiens non plus seulement comme des « pré- » chrétiens ou des « pré- » musulmans, mais comme des acteurs en compétition historique et en partenariat économique avec leurs voisins.

To reconstruct and understand adornment practices during the Kushana period of Gandhara (1st-3rd centuries CE), this article compares selected examples of beads recovered from the stratigraphically excavated site of Barikot (Swat Valley, Pakistan) with the forms of beads carved into regional iconography, i.e., sculptures of Bodhisattva (Buddhist divine beings) deriving from the Gandharan world. This article evaluates bead shape, size, and style to determine if the carved depictions represent actual ornaments or if they are simply symbolic or imaginative. This analysis can provide new insight into how ornaments were worn in the early historic period of South Asia and into the accuracy of iconographic depictions.

Dans la péninsule omanaise, les éléments de parure font partie des artefacts les plus nombreux retrouvés dans les sites archéologiques du Néolithique et de l’âge du Bronze.
Nous avons privilégié l’étude de plus de 100 000 perles en pierre (agate, cornaline, lapis-lazuli, pierre tendre verte, etc.) sur environ quatre millénaires, d’un point de vue morphologique, dimensionnel et surtout technologique.
Parmi les principaux résultats, notons que deux catégories d’éléments de parure ont été mises en évidence, principalement à l’âge du Bronze (fin 4e-fin 2e millénaire av. J.-C.), l’une étant bien supérieure à l’autre. Ces deux catégories reflèteraient le savoir-faire d’ateliers différents localisés dans des régions distinctes. La majorité serait issue d’une production locale, d’autres de la région indo-pakistanaise pour certaines perles en cornaline ou d’Iran pour les perles en lapis-lazuli par exemple.
Cette étude a permis de restituer les principaux réseaux de circulation pour chaque matériau minéral utilisés pour les perles à l’intérieur de la péninsule omanaise pour la production locale et entre les différentes régions voisines de cette zone dans le cas de perles importées. Nous avons aussi pu percevoir l’impact du contexte historique sur la circulation des matériaux entre la Péninsule d’Oman et les régions de l’Asie moyenne.
Les éléments de parure sont des objets hautement symboliques, notamment dans la péninsule omanaise où ces artefacts expriment de nombreuses valeurs très diverses : marchande, apotropaïque, esthétique, temporelle, sexuelle, hiérarchique ou spirituelle.

In the Oman Peninsula, items of personal ornament are among the most numerous artifacts found at archaeological sites from the Neolithic and Bronze Age.
This study focuses on more than 100,000 stone beads (agate, carnelian, lapis lazuli, green softstone, etc.), spanning approximately four millennia, from a morphological, dimensional, and especially technological perspective.
Key results include the identification of only two categories of ornamental elements, mainly in the Bronze Age (late 4th-late 2nd millennium BC), one being of substantially higher quality than the other. These two categories reflect the expertise of different workshops located in distinct regions. The majority appears to be of local production, while others, such as some carnelian and lapis lazuli beads, are likely from the Indo-Pakistan region or Iran, respectively.
This study permitted the recreation of the main circulation patterns for each mineral material used in the manufacture of beads, both within the Oman Peninsula for those produced locally, and between neighboring regions in the case of imported beads. It is also possible to see the impact of historical context on the circulation of material between the Oman Peninsula and Middle Asia. Elements of personal ornamentation are highly symbolic objects, especially in the Oman Peninsula where these artifacts convey many diverse values: commercial, apotropaic, aesthetic, temporal, sexual, hierarchical, or spiritual.

"В книге впервые комплексно исследуются предметы ахеменидского круга из погребений ранних кочевников Южного Приуралья и случайных находок: сосуды из драгоценных металлов, стекла, бронзы и алебастра, предметы вооружения и конского снаряжения и золота и серебра, украшения и предметы костюма из драгоценных металлов, бронзовые зеркала, детали парадной мебели, каменные бусы, предметы утвари и культового назначения. В работу включены не только произведения, которые могут быть атрибутированы как собственно ахеменидские (древнеиранские), но и памятники, изготовленные в различных частях державы Ахеменидов, в период расцвета включавшей огромные территории от Египта и Фракии на Западе до северо-запада Индии на востоке. Памятники ахеменидского круга рассматриваются в контексте погребальных комплексов и кладов, в которых они были обнаружены. Специальный раздел посвящен технологическим исследованиям. Основу работы составляет каталог. Книга хорошо иллюстрирована картами, чертежами объектов, графическими рисунками, черно-белыми и цветными фотографиями. Она рассчитана на археологов, историков, искусствоведов, всех, кто интересуется историей и археологией ранних кочевников Евразийских степей и их контактами с древними цивилизациями Востока.

In diesem Buch werden zum ersten Mal vollständig Objekte des achämenidischen Kreises aus den Gräbern der frühen Nomaden des südlichen Uralvorlandes sowie die Zufallsfunde dieser Kategorie vorgestellt, unter anderem Edelmetallgefäße, Gefäße aus Glas, Bronze und Alabaster, Waffen, Zaumzeug aus Gold und Silber, Verzierungen und Gewandappliken, bronzene Spiegel, Details der Luxus-Möbel, Steinperlen, Utensilien und rituelle Gegenstände. Dabei sind in dem vorliegenden Studium nicht nur diejenigen Objekte, die als unmittelbar achämenidisch (alt-iranisch) bestimmt werden konnten, sondern auch solche, die in verschiedenen Teilen des achämenidischen Reiches, das in seiner Blütezeit riesige Gebiete von Ägypten und Thrakien im Westen bis zu dem Nordwesten Indiens im Osten umfasste, hergestellt sein könnten. Die Denkmäler des achämenidischen Kreises werden im Kontext der Grabkomplexe und Schätze, wo sie zu Tage kamen, betrachtet. Ein gesonderter Teil der Arbeit ist den technologischen Untersuchungen gewidmet. Die Grundlage der Arbeit bildet ein Katalog. Das Buch ist mit zahlreichen Karten, Kurgan- und Grabplänen, Zeichnungen, Schwarz-Weiß- und Farbfotografien der untersuchten Objekte illustriert. Diese Veröffentlichung richtet sich hauptsächlich an Archäologen, Historiker, Kunsthistoriker, an all diejenigen, die an der Geschichte und Archäologie der frühen Nomaden der Steppen Eurasiens und ihren Kontakten mit alten Zivilisationen des Ostens Interesse haben."