Beads and Bead Makers Gender, Material Culture and Meaning [Hardcover]

Beads have been used since antiquity, not only to dress the body, but as measures of value in economic and ritual exchanges. Their popularity has never waned, and in recent years their trade has enjoyed a world-wide revival. Beads have deep and multiple meanings: in many cultures, together with garments, they reflect age, gender and social status, and are a vehicle through which people store, exchange and transmit wealth.This absorbing book analyzes techniques and gendered aspects of the making of beads, as well as their role in trade and body adornment, in a wide range of societies, from the ancient Mediterranean to Renaissance Venice and present-day Southern Africa and West Africa, where they have become a symbol of cultural survival and identity. Anyone interested in material culture, anthropology, art history, and gender studies will find that this book provides fascinating insights into attitudes toward the body and its dress as well as systems of social classification.

Lidia D. Sciama, Introduction -- Helen Hughes-Brock, Greek Beads of the Mycenean Period (ca. 1650 - 1100 B.C.): The Age of the Heroines of Mythology -- Elena Kingdon, Ornament and Belief -- Margret Carey, Beads and Beadwork in African Societies -- Ann O'Hear, Women and Men in the Production and Uses of Lantana Beads -- Francesca Trivellato, Women at Work: Venetian Glass Beads in the International Markets. An Historical Perspective -- Penny Dransart, A Short History of Rosaries in the Andes -- Carol Wills, What Beads Mean to Craft Producers Supported by Oxfam -- Stefany Tomalin, Bead Terms and their Definitions -- Joanne B. Eicher, Beads, Gender, and Hierarchy among the Kalabari of Nigeria -- Index

Well-edited and provides rich, detailed material for a comparative analysis of beads world-wide ... The book succeeds in bridging several disciplines, and it should be of great interest to historians, anthropologists, and archaeologists -- and of course to the practical bead enthusiast whl¦