Manufacture Of Beads Research Articles

Faunal Remains from the 1971–1977 Excavations at the Seip Earthwork Complex, Ross County

AbstractThe enigmatic nature of the archaeological deposits recovered from the 1971–1977 Ohio Historical Society (OHS) excavations at the Seip Earthworks Complex, Ross County, Ohio inspired a reexamination of the archived faunal assemblage. This research indicates that the vast majority of the faunal materials collected represent secondary deposits from an unknown source or sources, making interpretations of feature and structure function problematic. Evidence of shell bead manufacture, or any other specialized production of bone artifacts, was not apparent in the assemblage. The assemblage informs our understanding of site formation processes, especially in the period after the dismantling of the structures that were recovered by the excavations, more than it does of any function while the structures were actively being used.

Stone Bead Technologies and Early Craft Specialization: Insights from Two Neolithic Sites in Eastern Jordan

What social groups were involved in Neolithic craft production? What was the nature of early forms of craft specialization, long before urban economies evolved? One way to look at this is to investigate manufacture of Neolithic prestige goods. Seasonal camps in Wadi Jilat (eastern Jordan) revealed unusually detailed evidence for manufacture of stone beads: debris, blanks, finished beads, and tools for drilling, sawing and abrasion. The material is 'Dabba Marble', a metamorphic rock of which the major source is nearby. This article describes lapidary technology at Jilat 13 and Jilat 25, equivalent in age to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C (PPNC). Mineral-chemical characterization data on Dabba Marble are presented. These sites raise issues about early craft specialization. These beadmakers seem to have been master craftsmen/women. We suggest that these sites illustrate a particular form of 'site specialization', namely sites located in remote territories and focused on special materials and intensive production of prestige goods. However, these craft activities were also embedded in hunting, herding and, perhaps, ritual, as suggested by figurines and pillars.

The lithic industry of Wadi Shab, a Middle Holocene site on the coast of Oman

One of the most tedious stages in archaeological research is that which concerns the analytical study of the hundreds and thousands of lithic, ceramic, faunal and other remains generated during the excavation of a site. Detailed descriptions of these assemblages have the advantage of becoming a tool for theoretical work and, moreover, for studies of unstratified assemblages. This paper illustrates in detail the lithic assemblage of the Neolithic/Early Bronze Age site of Wadi Shab‐GAS 1 located on the coast of the Gulf of Oman with a partial, i.e. typologically based, interpretation of the data in comparison with the overall archaeological context as it emerged from excavation. The analysis highlights a lithic assemblage that was mainly flake‐oriented, using different core‐treatment techniques and aimed at producing a range of tools of which perforators appear to be the most common. The manufacture of beads and other soft‐stone jewellery would appear to explain such a specialised industry.

Manufacture of hydroxyapatite beads for medical applications

Dense, microporous and macroporous hydroxyapatite spherical granules for medical applications were prepared by a new manufacturing procedure. This process is related to a lost wax method and yields beads with a fully controlled porosity, in terms of shape and pore size. A CaCO 3 scaffold exhibiting controlled size spherical cavities is impregnated with an aqueous hydroxyapatite suspension. After drying in a plaster mould, a thermal treatment destroys the carbonate scaffold and makes it possible to release the HA beads. By this process, HA beads with diameters in the range of 300 μm to 3 mm are obtained. A post-thermal treatment of the beads allows the ceramic to be densified at various densification levels. Porous ceramics make it possible to functionalise the hydroxyapatite granules by loading the structure with biologically active substances. Drug releasing kinetics in continuous distilled water flow were analysed as a function of time and ceramic porosity. Spheres continue to release the biological molecules for more than 5 days.

Later Stone Age ostrich eggshell bead manufacture in the Northern Cape, South Africa

Two different prehistoric manufacturing pathways are identified in the manufacture of ostrich eggshell beads in the South African Later Stone Age. In Pathway 1, blanks are drilled prior to being trimmed to rough discs. This is the dominant production strategy and is consistent with most ethnographic accounts. That in which the trimming occurs first, Pathway 2, was rarely practiced. The data from five bead factory sites in Namaqualand show that most breakage occurs during the drilling stage and that the production process has not changed through the last 4000 years. The use of grooved stones for smoothing beads is contentious and the identity of drilling tools remains unknown. Contrary to the suggestions of others, beads seem to have been readily produced at both short and long term occupation camps and scarcity of ostrich egg is unlikely to have been a determining factor. The lack of production debris reflecting large beads suggests these beads were brought into Namaqualand from elsewhere.

Production sequences of ostrich eggshell beads and settlement dynamics in the Geelbek Dunes of the Western Cape, South Africa

The archaeological record attests to the significance of ostrich eggs as a valuable resource for the people of the Later Stone Age. People over a broad geographic range used ostrich eggs to provide nourishment, storage and ornamentation. This paper focuses on the production, use and discard of ostrich eggshell beads recovered from open-air sites in the Geelbek Dunes of the Western Cape, South Africa. We present a comprehensive production chain for analyzing the manufacture of beads and introduce the concept of a heuristic production value for evaluating the degree of completion reflected by an assemblage. The pattern of fabrication and the distribution in size allow for a detailed analysis of the beads that points to specific behavioral patterns involved in their production. This analysis yields information about the duration and intensity of site use, as well as the individual members and cultural affinities of the groups who made the beads. We document the intentional use of fire to blacken the majority of the beads as an aesthetic choice. Combined with the results from AMS radiocarbon dating, the majority of the beads from Geelbek provide insight into the socio-economic identity of their manufacturers: small groups of hunter–gatherers who inhabited and used specific locations on the strandveld near Langebaan Lagoon.

Glass Beads in Ancient India and Furnace-Wound Beads at Purdalpur: An Ethnoarchaeological Approach

Today glass beads are a major product of India from at least three different locations, using altogether different techniques. Each production process leaves behind debitage unique to its individual manufacturing process. Archaeologically, it is imperative to identify and record the production techniques of glass bead manufacture and to identify the various specific waste products rather than merely speaking of beads and production centers on the basis of statistics. There have been a number of studies on Indo-Pacific bead production, but few on other methods. An ancient and important technique of bead manufacture, used even today, is the "furnace-winding" technique. Beads produced by this technique have been found in large numbers at various archaeological sites. This paper discusses the details of beads and bead waste produced by the furnace-winding technique and the specific criteria of production. It also uses the results of a detailed ethnographic analysis at a manufacturing village, Purdalpur, to understand the production and dispersal mechanisms. An understanding of these mechanisms allows us to formulate certain criteria that can be used to draw better inferences about archaeological sites in which bead debitage has been found.

Extruded and Spheronized Beads Containing No Microcrystalline Cellulose: Influence of Formulation and Process Variables

The purposes of this study were to investigate the use of chitosan in the manufacture of beads by extrusion‐spheronization without inclusion of microcrystalline cellulose, and to study the effect of formulation and process variables on the characteristics of the beads. Beads containing chitosan, fine particle ethylcellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), and caffeine as the model drug were manufactured. Bead size, yield, shape, friability, density, porosity, and release studies were determined. Spherical beads with good mechanical properties could be manufactured without microcrystalline cellulose. Release studies showed that there was immediate release of drug from the beads. A five factor, half fraction screening design was employed to study the effect of formulation variables and process variables on the properties of the beads. Statistical analysis indicated that formulation variables such as the chitosan content, HPMC content, and water content, and process variables such as the spheronizer speed and extruder speed significantly affected the physical properties of the beads. The bead size decreased with an increase in chitosan content. Significant two‐factor interactions exist between the variables for several of the measured responses. Beads with high percentage yield and high sphericity can be obtained at high chitosan content, and low HPMC content, water content, spheronizer speed, and extruder speed. Less friable beads can be obtained at high levels of studied formulation variables and low levels of studied process variables. Beads of high density and low porosity can be manufactured at high levels of the studied formulation and process variables. Regression equations were generated using Statgraphics Plus software that can be used to develop formulations with desired bead properties. Chitosan was useful to provide beads of acceptable physical properties using water as a granulating fluid in the extrusion‐spheronization process.

Use of Fire in Shell Bead Manufacture at Cahokia

This paper reports on the evidence for heat-treatment of marine shell in bead manufacture at the Cahokia site in Illinois. Of burned shell fragments, high percentages of burned columellas were found, suggesting that columellas were targeted for heat treatment. Additionally, the presence of all shell elements reveals that whole lightning whelk shells (Busycon sinistrum) were transported to Cahokia for artifact manufacture, probably after being de-fleshed. A columella bead-working reduction sequence is presented.

The Value of Pismo Clam Tube Beads in California: Experiments in Drilling

Shell beads have long been a topic of interest in North American Pacific Coast archaeology. Studies by Gifford (1947), Gibson (1975, 1976, 1987, 1992), King (1974, 1978, 1990), Macko (1984), Bennyhoff and Hughes (1987), Arnold (1992a), Arnold and Munns (1994), and Arnold and Graesch (2001) have established the temporal sensitivity of shell bead assemblages in California and explored their socioeconomic importance among several groups on the coast and in the interior. Somewhat less attention has been directed toward elucidating shell bead production techniques (but see Arnold and Graesch, 2001; Macko, 1984). Here, we experiment with an often reported but unusual drilling technique attributed to the coastal Chumash, among others, for the manufacturing of Pismo clam (Tivela stultorum) tube beads. We also place Tivela stultorum bead manufacturing in a broader cultural and manufacturing context, including implementing systematic Moh's hardness testing of Tivela and nine other widely used shell species. Ethnographic, archaeological, and experimental evidence suggests that Tivela tube beads were among the most labor-intensive and valuable of the many bead types made and used by Native Californians.

Identifying specialisation, production and exchange in the archaeological record: the case of shell bead manufacture on Motupore Island, Papua

AbstractAnalyses of shell beads and stone drillpoints from Motupore Island, near Port Moresby, PNG contribute to the debate about the specialised role of the site in a prehistoric exchange network as well as to theoretical discussions concerning the relationship between craft specialisation and social stratification. The presence of drillpoints, which are specialised and efficient tools for making beads, demonstrates a level of technological efficiency expected with trading systems. Studies of the spatial patterning of drillpoints, shell beads, and grinding slabs on the site and in the region, along with usewear and residue research, and statistical analyses of the artifacts are carried out. These data demonstrate that shell bead manufacture represents village level craft specialisation and was a significant part of Motupore's economy throughout its history. Finally, the paper shows that village level specialised production need not imply institutionalised social differentiation.

Minería neolítica en Gavá (Baix Llobregat, Barcelona)

The process of mining and variscite obtention in Gava during the Developed Early Neolithic and the Middle Neolithic have been studied regarding the results of archaeological excavations, the geological study and experimentation. The following issues have been analysed: the exploitation structures, with differences in shape and distribution between both periods; the mining tools with differences in materials, shapes and use; the products obtained, among which only variscite can be identified; the manufacturing of variscite beads near the mine; the economic and social context of these work processes, not eccepting specialization among Gava Neolithic communities in mining and bead manufacturing; and the ideological trends related to mining proposing a union with those of agriculture and cattle.

The Manufacture of Cockle Shell Beads at Early Neolithic Franchthi Cave, Greece: A Case of Craft Specialization?

This paper closely examines the process of manufacture of a largely disregarded class of social objects - personal ornaments. Specifically, the manufacture from marine mollusc shell of one distinct type of disc bead based on the archaeological remains from Franchthi Cave is described in detail, supplemented by ethnographic and experimental evidence. The results of this study establish criteria which may be applied to the production of diverse ornaments of various materials and from sites of many regions and dates. Several current models of craft specialization are compared in the following discussion. In light of these models, the evidence for the manufacture of shell beads at Franchthi Cave is re-examined and the possibility that this constituted a specialized craft production is evaluated.

Calcium alginate bead manufacture: With and without immobilised yeast. Drop formation at a two‐fluid nozzle

AbstractTwo models were developed to predict the size of drops of aqueous sodium alginate solution formed at a two‐fluid nozzle. Experimental results revealed that actual drop sizes lay between the sizes predicted by the two models. Drop size was closely predicted by the volume mean of the two models. Several nozzles were tested and the influence of operating conditions on drop diameter was examined, with gas velocity and nozzle outer diameter having the largest effect. Only two nozzles would be needed to produce drops with diameters in the range 1–6 mm. The addition of yeast in amounts of up to 10% (w/w) had no effect on operation of the nozzles.

Independent or Attached Specialization: The Organization of Shell Bead Production in California

Shell bead manufacturing on California's northern Channel Islands apparently played a critical role in the rise of a simple chiefdom and the operation of a lively regional exchange economy. Recent research has focused on expanding our understanding of the economic and sociopolitical context of this rich tradition of shell bead production and the means by which bead makers articulated with other specialists, elites, and consumers. Analyses suggest that bead makers were specialists, yet we find that widely used concepts of independent and attached specialization are difficult to apply to the Channel Islands case for a number of reasons. We explore these reasons and suggest a simplification of definitions of specialization so they better accommodate variability in the archaeological record. Analysis of several dimensions of bead production data from the region illustrates a dramatic increase in intensity of bead production and a shift from the manufacture of simpler to more labor-intensive bead types at ca. A.C. 1150-1300. These changes appear linked to the emergence of elites approximately seven or eight centuries ago in this region.

Bead Manufacture by Extrusion/spheronization – a Statistical Design for Process Optimization

AbstractOur recent experience in developing bead formulations for a hydrophilic drug using an extrusion/spheronization technique highlighted several critical processing factors. It was observed that the yield of beads of desired size fraction was significantly affected by water level, water temperature, extrusion speed, spheronization speed, and spheronization time. To further elucidate the roles of these factors, a split-plot factorial design was used to evaluate their effects on the yield of desired size beads, and to determine the optimal levels to maximize the yield. Several 18 kg batches of beads were manufactured using a predetermined level of each factor. The finished beads were sieved using #14 and #20 mesh screens and the yields of beads between #14–20 mesh screen were determined. It was observed that the temperature of water used at the granulation stage significantly affected the bead formation. Using room temperature water for granulation, the significant factors were water level, extruder spe...

Bead Manufacture at Hajar Ar-Rayhani, Yemen

Stone beads have been made and worn since the Upper Paleolithic period. Beads have been used, appreciated and collected in a variety of ways throughout history, and often served specific religious functions. The authors study the various ways beads were shaped and polished, a topic that has been largely neglected in bead scholarship.

Manufacture and properties of erythromycin beads containing neutron-activated erbium-171.

To evaluate the effects of a neutron activation radiolabeling technique on an enteric-coated multiparticulate formulation of erythromycin, test quantities were produced under industrial pilot scale conditions. The pellets contained the stable isotope erbium oxide (Er-170), which was later converted by neutron activation into the short-lived gamma ray-emitting radionuclide, erbium-171. In vitro studies indicated that the dissolution profile, acid resistance, and enteric-coated surface of the pellets were minimally affected by the irradiation procedure. Antimicrobial potency was also unaffected, as determined by microbiological assay. Neutron activation thus appears to simplify the radiolabeling of complex pharmaceutical dosage forms for in vivo study by external gamma scintigraphy.

Ancient factory mass-production techniques: indications of large-scale stone bead manufacture during the Egyptian New Kingdom Period

Among the craftworkers depicted in Egyptian tomb-painting are drillers of beads about their work. An experimental study of bead-drilling leads to an assessment of the industrial nature of the enterprise.

Bohemian Glass Beadmaking: Translation and Discussion of a 1913 German Technical Article

This report provides an English translation of a German technical article on late 19th-century and early 20th-century Bohemian glass-bead manufacturing, published in 1913 in the journal Sprechsaal. The article emphasizes the description of techiques for the manufacture of mould-pressed beads, secondarily describing methods for wound, blown and drawn-bead manufacturing.