When we think of African art, sculptures and masks may come to mind, but beadwork is a longstanding tradition within African arts. In fact, African archaeological sites contain evidence for some of the world’s oldest known beads. Many African people traditionally produced elaborate and beautiful beadwork that served a variety of decorative and social functions. This work is both sought after by museums and galleries and is highly collectable. MyWeku will explore the origins of beads and their significance in modern Africa in a three part series.

1. The Origin of Beads
2. Trade Beads
3. Collectible beadwork

The Origins of Beads

Two African sites have made headlines with claims for the world’s oldest beads. The Grotte des Pigeons in Morocco and Blombos Cave in South Africa have both yielded Nassarius shells with tiny holes that identify them as beads. They are thought to be about 82 000 and 70 000 years old respectively.

Some millennia on, small, flat ground beads made of ostrich eggshell were being made. In caves in Kenya and Tanzania, archaeologists have uncovered beads that are 30-40 000 years old. What our ancestors used them for remains unknown but by the Later Stone Age African hunter-gatherers were using beads and shell pendants for personal decoration. Some may have signaled social status or group affinity. Stone beads from Kenyan sites are also known and bone was also used in later times.

The most recent archaeological culture period is the Iron Age and beads were clearly of great important to the Iron Age farmers. A celebrated example is that of a woman buried at Isamu Pati, in Zambia. She was interred with thousands of beads of glass and shell. No doubt she was a high-status individual in her society.

See Also:

African Collectible Beads and Trade Beads