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Preservation Virginia > Jamestown Rediscovery > Research Resources > The Journal of the Jamestown Rediscovery Center > JJRC - Vol. 1 > JJRC - Vol. 1 - Lapham > JJRC - Vol. 1 - Lapham - Endnotes

The Journal of the Jamestown Rediscovery Center

Volume 1


More Than "A Few Blew Beads": The Glass and Stone Beads from Jamestown Rediscovery's 1994-1997 Excavations

Heather Lapham
University of Virginia


6. Endnotes

  1. The Kidd and Kidd (1970) typology defines bead varieties based on manufacturing process and physical characteristics such as shape, size, and color. Four classes of drawn beads, designated by roman numerals, are recognized. The classes differ based on bead structure (the number of glass layers) and finishing treatment (whether or not a bead has been heat altered to a spherical shape). Within each class, individual bead varieties are defined by the presence or absence of decorative elements (such as stripes or inlays), glass color and diaphaniety, bead shape, and size. Wound beads are denoted by the prefix "W". Size designations conform to those outlined in Kidd and Kidd (1970): very small (under 2 mm), small (2-4 mm), medium (4-6 mm), large (6-10 mm), and very large (over 10 mm).
  2. Although valid criticisms of the Kidds' typology have been voiced (Karklins 1985:86-87; Ross 1990:62), their classification system, along with Karklins' supplement (1985), is useful in identifying glass beads from late 16th- to middle 17th- century sites in eastern North America. The standardization that this typology provides allows for temporal and regional comparative studies at the expense of overlooking minor differences within bead varieties.
  3. See Karklins 1993: Figure 3, top, and Figure 5. Deagan (1989:170, Fig. 7.5) and others have also suggested that the connected double bead seen in Figure 2 may represent a joining bead from a rosary. Although some Catholic items have been found in Fort-Period contexts, historical records suggest the lack of a Catholic presence at Jamestown Island during this time.
  4. In Peru, the Spanish incorporated nueva cadiz beads into colonial jewelry (Fairbanks 1968:7,12). No evidence, archaeological or historical, suggests that Jamestown's colonists used nueva cadiz-like beads in a similar manner.
  5. Elizabeth Harris's (1982) comparative photographs demonstrated differences between nueva cadiz-like beads of the 17th-century and true nueva cadiz varieties of the early-to-mid 16th-century.
  6. The 38 turquoise beads ranged in size from 5.9-49.6 mm in length and 3.6-5.2 mm in diameter with an average length of 13.4 mm (median: 9.4 mm) and an average diameter of 3.8 mm (median: 4.0 mm). The seven navy blue beads ranged from 6.0-13.0 mm in length and 4.2-5.4 mm in diameter with an average length of 6.2 mm (median: 8.3 mm) and an average diameter of 4.0 mm (median: 4.5 mm). Although both varieties exhibited similar diameters, the navy blue variety was generally shorter in length than the turquoise type. A similar pattern was noted among nueva cadiz beads associated with early 16th-century Spanish trade. Navy blue beads tended to be shorter and smaller than turquoise-colored varieties (Smith and Good 1982:53).
  7. The Kidds' typology classified gooseberry beads as a complex variety, signifying that they are a group of beads comprised of one glass layer and decorated with stripes, inlays, or appliques. These beads, however, are composed of three glass layers. Technically, they should be considered a composite manufacture, which refers to beads that are comprised of two or more glass layers and decorated with stripes, inlays, or appliques.
  8. Donald Rumrill, in The Mohawk Glass Trade Bead Chronology: Ca. 1560-1785, identified a glass bead variety (typed as Kidd WIe*) that he described as a "truncated cone" of "transparent light gold" glass from several late 17th-century Mohawk sites in New York (1991:23). The beads do not appear to be the same as those found at Jamestown as they were neither unusually heavy nor did they exhibit readily apparent filed ends (Mary Rumrill, personal communication).
  9. All chevrons adhered to the traditional color sequence for this variety with one exception. A very large specimen exhibited a fifth layer and core of translucent aqua blue glass.
  10. In the Southeast, nueva cadiz beads generally date to the first half of the 16thcentury. Seven oaks gilded molded and faceted cut quartz crystal beads date to the middle-to-late 16thcentury. All three varieties have rarely been found north of Spanish territory (Brain 1975; Deagan 1987; Mitchem and Leader 1988; Pearson 1977; Smith 1983; Smith and Good 1982). Faceted chevron and gooseberry beads, in contrast, date to the late 16th- and early 17th-century in the Northeast as well. Consequently, they cannot be associated exclusively with Spanish trade.
  11. Karklins (1984) reported no Dutch examples of the navy blue nueva cadiz-like variety. Color and color-sequence differences were also apparent between the turquoise nueva cadiz-like beads found at Jamestown and those from the Netherlands. The diameter of Dutch nueva cadiz-like beads also tends to be larger than Jamestown's. In general, Dutch varieties are more similar to the nueva cadiz-like beads found in small numbers on indigenous sites in the northern Middle Atlantic and Northeast than to those in Jamestown's assemblage.
  12. Dutch chevrons differed somewhat in color from those at Jamestown. Likewise, gooseberry beads from the Netherlands were decorated with 13 or 18 white stripes per bead, whereas the Jamestown variety maintained 8, 11, or 12 stripes.
  13. Although ample historical and archaeological evidence exists of glassmaking at James Fort during the first quarter of the 17th-century, there is only one glass-bead type that may be unique to the island. Historical records indicate that Jamestown colonists made two attempts, in 1608 and 1621, at glass making in the colony (Harrington 1972). Both ventures produced several trial batches of glass that were shipped to England (Ibid.). No mention, however, is made of attempting bead manufacture, until the 1621 venture. Excavations at the Fort site have uncovered glass slag, a waste product of glassmaking activities, in early 17th-century contexts (Kelso, et. al. 1997:25). It is assumed that local bead production would result in distinctive beads as well as the waste that results from other glassmaking endeavors. To this point, only the cone-shaped yellow bead is exclusive to Jamestown, and it may have parallels in the later Northeast.
  14. This suggested model of reduction in Venetian bead manufacture does not explain why late 16th-century Spanish colonial sites in America have produced a dearth of nueva cadiz and nueva cadiz-like beads. Future research would benefit from a chemical composition study comparing Jamestown's nueva cadiz-like beads with those from early 16th-century Spanish contexts.



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