I am familiar with N. African scented paste beads, as described in previous replies, due to interactions with the Oppers, and Carole Huetner. In Mali and Ghana, they also make beads from danq—which is a gummy substance that has been pounded into a mass, and then formed into beads. Danq was routinely misidentified as "myrrh" for quite a long time (decades) until a correct ID was proposed—and probably many of us who collected beads since the early '70s have these beads.

In China, there are a number of preparations that are similar bead products, some of which are aromatic. These have been made from the ground-up dust of popular bead materials—such as bone, ivory, and wood—using some binder to glue the material(s) into a reconstructed mass. I refer to all of these materials as "composition." Chinese composition can be molded (to form beads, that are essentially all alike), though sometimes it was actually carved.

Brown composition, made from wood dust, has been characterized as "molded wood."

In the '80s, it was possible to acquire some very beautiful beads that had a gray base, covered with colored lacquer, that were then carved. At the time, these were marketed as "pressed incense ash," and they were slightly aromatic. Whether the material was actually reconstructed ash from incense, I don't know. But I wish I had more (!).

JDA.