A note about "Tibetan skull bead malas."

It is credible that Tibetans made malas, using the skull bones of deceased monks and (supposedly) convicts. I don't know that anyone can be certain this tradition continues. It seems unlikely.

The thing is, the crania of all large mammals are going to be structurally similar.

Since the 1990s a lot of skull bone malas have been commercially produced. They are marketed as "Tibetan," but they are made in factories in Nepal. The material is probably from the skulls of water buffalos. It looks a great deal like human skull bone. However, the beads themselves have a mass-produced quality that is a give-away. They are very uniform, when compared to an old skull bone mala—where the beads are more individualistic. Also, in old malas, usually a few beads have been inlaid with small actual coral and turquoise stones. In the reproductions these "stones" are glass—and they appear in every other bead on the strand.

The reproduction beads are routinely sold at a cheap price. But, of course, it is very possible someone will pass one off as "authentic ancient human bone" and will ask a very high price for them.

JDA.