The truth of the matter is that the pentagonal cylinders or ridged tubes, as they are often called, were not made in Amsterdam but in the Fichtelgebirge region of Bavaria. There is absolutely no evidence, historic or archaeological, to substantiate a Dutch wound bead industry. Despite what Jamey said, my recent research on the Fichtelgebirge furnace-wound bead and button industry (see my article in BEADS 28) reveals that there is quite a bit of waste in the form of malformed specimens at furnace-wound production sites, something not yet encountered in Amsterdam despite years of excavation and collecting. Documents reveal that the the Bavarian products were exported through ports like Hamburg and Amsterdam. Obviously, some stayed there.

Early on I believed these and all the associated furnace wound beads like the round, oval (pigeon egg), annular, donut shaped, pentagonal-faceted, and raspberry beads were made in Amsterdam based on van der Sleen's studies. He concluded that these beads, found in Amsterdam canal dredgings used as fertilizer for outlying gardens with drawn beads that were definitely made in Amsterdam, were also made there but without supporting evidence. Dubin used much of my early data when writing about Dutch beads and now almost all old furnace-wound beads of the forms mentioned above are considered -- very much erroneously -- Dutch. Furthermore, these beads date in North America to the period 1700-1845.

The ridged tubes found on St. Eustatius were not necessarily "used to pay or reward slaves, and only on this island." Statia was a major commercial hub where materials coming from and going to ports worldwide were stored and redistributed. I discuss local bead use on Statia in BEADS vol. 1, available on SURFACE Beads .