Beads – The Latest Thing for a Long, Long Time

By Sally Taylor

It’s not often you can go shopping and not see beads which are claimed by the seller to be the “latest thing”. That’s probably just what people were thinking when they started making beads over 100,000 years ago! Recent findings have revealed that beads have been part of human life for that long, if not longer.

Recent examination of beads excavated in the early 1900’s from sites in Israel and Algeria have shown the beads to date from between 100,000 to 135,000 years ago, a finding which pushes the previous earliest known date of 75,000 years back quite some distance in human history.

These finding are extremely elemental in building our view of our species history for many reasons, the most important being that it shows beyond doubt that humans were thinking symbolically much longer than previously supposed.

The first beads that we know of were shells. Perforations in shells are often from natural causes such as parasites, but humans still had to think of a means to string them together which shows their ability to use chords – and to tie knots or make clasps. Because these shells were found in areas that they would not occur naturally, we know that early people sought them purposely and possibly even traded for them. We also know that these early bead makers had a sense of self and an idea of self adornment, were thinking symbolically, and had an understanding of art.

These points and other factors about beads and bead making also reveal that human social units were much more complex at this time than previously realized as well. Beads throughout history have been used to show social association or class, as an indication of wealth or prestige, as gifts, for beautification, and for currency meaning that complex social units existed from the beginning of bead crafting. Bead materials, bead crafting, and finished product has been an important indication of intra-cultural crafting trade since the earliest of bead making cultures as beads of materials from far away lands were seemingly the most significant to a culture’s people and carried the most importance and prestige within a group.

As time went on more and harder materials began being used for bead making. These items included seeds, teeth, bone, eggshells and ivory. Holes were drilled using the method of rotation. By 40,000 years ago stone was being used for bead work. By 28,000 years ago beads had become quite elaborate masterpieces and true marvels of skill mastership.

As civilizations flourished, so did the art of bead making. Today we still value our beads, whether they are an expensive string of pearls or just a few colorful ceramic baubles. The following examples of beads from around the world testify that in the vast history of humans, no civilization was, or is, complete without beads.

This is a picture of the oldest beads known to have existed. They were found in Blombos Cave in South Africa. http://www.svf.uib.no/sfu/blombos/Artefact_Review_2/images/BigBlombos-Cave-marine-shel.jpg

This image is of a bracelet of amber, tin, and faience with a copper clasp. It was found in the bogs of the Netherlands where the materials would have had to have been traded and dates to the Bronze Age. http://www.civilization.ca/media/docs/images/bog01b.jpg

These images are of beads found on the earliest shipwreck ever found. They date from approximately 1306 BC. There were thousands of beads found on this trade ship excavated off the shores of Southern Turkey. http://ina.tamu.edu/UB-beads.htm

These stone beads are from the Poverty Point area in the Southern United States. These beads date back to between 3800 and 2500 years ago.http://lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/beadsgroupeffigymoore.htm

©2006, Sally Taylor: Sal is an avid gem and treasure hunter, explorer, writer, and Internet Marketer. She is the owner of http://www.rockhoundstation1.com and author of a controversial Internet Marketing Beginner’s Guide to Business Building: http://rockhoundstation1.net/ps/sally
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sally_Taylor

Making Money through Creative Beading

By Ed Whit

Not everyone can be a good bead crafter, but if you have a special talent for creative beading, you may be able to turn your talent into a lucrative profession. One way to know if you can make money this way is to listen to what other people are saying about your beading crafts, whether you do jewelry or other beading projects. Don’t just listen to what people say when you give them your beading projects as gifts; they aren’t going to be as honest as you would like. Instead, try to display your beading work in places where a lot of different people will see them, and try to eavesdrop on the conversations that they have about your work.

People love creative beading, and most people can spot good work when they see it. Whether you are making costume jewelry or adding beading to clothing, you are going to be able to make a good living from it if you find that people keep coming back to purchase your particular designs. Once you establish yourself as a bead crafter who does good quality work, you may want to make up some business cards for yourself and pass them around. Try to set up a booth at craft fairs as often as possible, and hand out your business cards to people who buy your products. Be sure to include your phone number and email address, and let people know that you are willing to do custom work. Your creative beading talent could very well provide you with a good full time income.

You can find this article and more like it at http://www.beadingcentral.info

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ed_Whit

A couple of simple ideas in there that are worth thinking about.
Keep smiling
Felicity 8-)

Online Alternatives to Ebay for Selling Bead Jewelry

BeadBoard.Net - Bead Jewelry Making Ideas � Blog Archive � Online Alternatives to Ebay for Selling Bead Jewelry: "Everyone has heard of the online auction site eBay, but not everyone has had the best luck selling bead jewelry on it. I'm one of those people. I find that it's just too difficult to compete with the other bead jewelry artists in pricing and quality.

For bead jewelry artists who don't want to start their own website or those who want to sell online through other means, there are plenty of options. There are really two kinds of online sales sites.

1. Online stores allow you to display your wares and sell them for a set price.

2. Auction sites allow you to put up your pieces for 'auction' for a limited time and allow potential buyers to bid the price up, with the highest bidder buying your jewelry.

There are pros and cons to each, but I've generally found that online stores are easier to manage because you're not constantly monitoring auctions and timing and pricings.

Here are a few alternative sites I've looked at for buying and selling bead jewelry. Feel free to post your own experiences with some of these sites!"

Check out the rest of this article if you're interested in selling your beaded jewelry online.
Keep smiling
Felicity 8-)

Funky Watch

Stacy's Stuff: "Here's the watch after it was completed. I ended up using elastic since it was too large with beading wire and the addition of a toggle clasp. I think I like the continual flow of this way better anyhow. I put Bali spacers between the clay beads and small silver circles next to the watch."

This is a cool watch - would make a great present for someone a bit young at heart and funky!
Felicity 8-)

Purple Bracelet

bink: Over the past two days, I've spent a tot: "My camera doesn't do a particularly good job discerning bright white from off-white from eggshell, but there is an overall yellow tint to the posted picture due to the light I was using. I made the thing out of glass and shell beads, and fishing line since it was worlds easier to thread through the beads without a needle. It has a toggle closure, which is fairly useless since the bracelet is so big that I can very easily just slip it on and off my wrist without haven't to open it. In fact, it has a secret ability in which it turns into a deadly assault weapon when I swing my hand too quickly in a given direction.

And yes, I felt hungry making this bracelet. Why else would it look like a fried egg sunny side up?"

I can't say I'd thought of eggs until the creator said that!
Felicity 8-)