Ancient Old Beads: A Window into the Past
Beads are one of the first examples of body ornaments and could be considered a timeless relic of prehistoric period. These small, frequently complex objects tell a great deal about the societies, commerce, and art of ancient peoples. Originally beads were not just accessories or forms of ornamentation, but rather status symbols, spiritual objects and merchants’ items.
Early Beginnings
The history of beads in more than 100,000 years, and earliest beads were made from natural resources such as shells, stones seeds and bones. Discovery of perforated Nassarius shells is one of the first clear manifestations of symbolic thought and people’s desire to decorate themselves, tradition, which has grown into full-blown craft tens of thousands of years ago among early people living in Africa. These Early Stone Age beads were probably worn as necklaces or integrated into clothes as ornament, as tools of identification as well as personal adornments.
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Beads and Their Historic Importance in Gilgit Baltistan
Materials and Techniques
Earlier in bead making process different materials were used, and as people developed new tools, and found new resources they were incorporated into bead making . The old artists used local resources and the materials they had included clay, wood and semi precious stones such as turquoise, carnelian and lapis lazuli. As societies became rather more advanced greater tools were used along with metals, glass and faience; a spectacular type of glassy glaze ceramics that originated in Egypt.
Glass beads, especially, we can talk about the new kind of beads is made. Dating back to 2500 BC glass beads are first recorded in Mesopotamia and within a short span had found their way to Egypt and the Mediterranean region. These beads were often brightly colored and had very interesting and intricate designs, practices which demonstrated the considerable expertise of the bead makers.
These lands also have cultural and spiritual meaning to the First Nations and to this nation.
Beads were not prestige ornaments; they were symbols that bore different cultural and religious significance. To the many of the old cults, beads were used for religious ceremonies, as burial items and amulets. For instance, the amulets and jewelry of the ancient Egyptian had beads that scribed protection from deities or eternal life. In Native American traditional societies, wampum beads created from shells were both ornamental and had a function that of a medium of exchange and means of instruction.
Beads were also used from personal adornments with the intention of differentiating those in the upper class levels of the society from the rest of the society. Focal materials such as amber, gold and gemstones were used in the upper scale while other general materials were easily gotten by the lower classes. Patterns and workmanship of beads used retaliated the social status as well as affluence of the wearer.
