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Hello Hans, I only know of one industry in West Africa where beads have been perforated by pecking—this being at Ilorin in Nigeria, where most of such beads are brick-red jasper (though the literature suggests they also worked agate), and are called "lantana" beads. I went to Ilorin myself in 1998, to investigate this industry. One of my team-mates managed to meet the last of the beadmakers, while I was elsewhere. He was shown a hand-tool, called and "esoro" or "esauro," that is essentially an awl, that was used for pecking. Pecking is arduous, and probably results in a lot of breakage. Though I suppose someone who has the knack is probably more successful. In any event, pecking is pursued by beadmakers who are unskilled in drilling—drilling being the efficient and preferred manner of perforating. Particularly, hard stones would be difficult to peck. I am not certain that all of the beads you are showing here are the same material (even if they are similar colors). Some appear to be amazonite beads; while others—the beads you began with—look more like jasper. Amazonite is a much softer stone—though (being a feldspar with an easy cleavage) amazonite is also much easier to break when undergoing any lapidary process. I have handled quite a few old amazonite beads from this region. Although they are FREQUENTLY said to be "ancient," I am very disinclined to believe this suggestion. I don't doubt some are old or antique..., but I'd be surprised if many are actually ancient. (I believe that quite a few large green specimens are actually recent beads, that are passed-off as "ancient.") I have said MANY times, the idea that these beads are "neolithic," and that this makes them "ancient" is easily mistaken. "Neolithic" describes a level of technology. In Asia and Europe, the early times of neolithic cultures has been well-demonstrated. However, in Africa, in some regions, people may have been exploiting neolithic technology as recently as the early 20th century (!). To me, it makes more sense to refer to these as "primitive" beads, in terms of their technology, and to avoid any unintended suggestion that these beads are extremely old. Whatever, the amazonite beads I have seen appear to be drilled. Many have large circular perforation channels—such as are made with rotary tools (drills). I would be surprised if any are pecked—though it's certainly not impossible. The crystalline texture of amazonite and jasper are very different from one another. Amazonite is generally spotty in color (with white or pale streaks or spots), and some tendency to be chatoyant (reflecting light, like a "cat's eye"). It can also be opaque of feebly translucent—whereas jasper is always quite opaque, and is much more fine-grained (though structurally fibrous—which is what distinguishes it from agate or chalcedony). It is usually visually possible to distinguish between these minerals using a hand-lens. Jamey All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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