Making beads and bead making: an introduction

Beads are a prominent category of material culture in the African past. Crosscutting their study across temporal periods and geographical areas are some general methodological and theoretical convergences: the categorisation of beads in terms of materials and methods of manufacture, an emphasis on provenance and distribution, and the analysis of beads as ‘social signals’ in relation to identity, networks and status. This paper outlines the conceptual framework of ‘making’ and discusses how such a framework can expand on existing analyses and provide new avenues for studying beads in the African past. Beads, like all forms of material culture, are the culmination of a dynamic process between materials and makers: the intermixing of ideas, substances and tools in time and space. A focus on making draws our attention to exploring the processes of bead composition in deeper focus, examining not only recycling and reuse but also the ways in which beads were made into composite items, such as garments or adornments. At the same time, a focus on making brings to light a concern for the encounters between material properties, knowledge, memory and sensory affects, encouraging an exploration of bead making as an assemblage of material and non-material things. We draw on a range of case studies from various regions across the African continent to illustrate the relevance of our approach for developing new insights into beads in the archaeological record.