ABOUT BEADS

Beads today are often considered trivial, a means of embellishing a garment, and unless made of precious stones & metals, often are. Beads seen through the lens of history present a different picture; they parallel the development of human skills and their knowledge of ways to use the bounty the earth provided.

The earliest humans had time for little beyond sheltering themselves and procuring enough food. That changed when Cro-Magnon man 30,000 years ago moved into the south of what is now France. They found a climate that eased the rigors of providing for basic needs, and with time to look to other activities they, like all humans since, began to adorn themselves. Their beads were simple stones they found; drilled and strung to wear. Later in our timeline, seeds, shells, bone, corals, ambers and other of nature's bounty were used for adornment and barter.

As mans' skills grew so did the type of beads he fashioned. He learned to work with and shape stone beads, such as carnelians, lapis, and turquoise; to make beads from clay, of glass. of gold and silver. Over 2000 years ago glass beads were being made--in fact, the first all glass object made was a bead-the Egyptians by then had created what we call faience and people of all classes wore strings of them; they were also skilled in working gold, as were many other peoples; the Byzantines developed the technique we call cloisonné. By the early centuries ad, glass beads were being produced in quantity all over what is now Europe, by the Romans, followed by craftsman of Amsterdam, India, Venice-. By the 15th century they had become a lively medium of exchange and were a form of money. Before Columbus's time and for a long while after, a ship rarely set out to sea without having its hold full of beads.

Today, though beautiful beads are made that are a pleasure to wear and look at, many of us treasure the old beads of earlier centuries and the stories they have to tell us.