Blue glass trade bead
- Title:
- Blue glass trade bead
- Collection:
- Selections from the Cornell Anthropology Collections
- Donor:
- Prof. Emeritus Robert Ascher, one of the principal excavators
- Date:
- ca. 1790-1850
- Site:
- Cumberland Island,Camden,Georgia,United States
- Location:
- Cumberland Island,Camden,Georgia,United States
- Country:
- United States
- ID Number:
- Anthr1983_002_0001_01
- Old Catalog Number:
- 983.2.1
- File Name:
- Anthr1983_002_0001_01.jpg
- Culture:
- antebellum
- Style/Period:
- trade beads
- Work Type:
- trade beads
beads (pierced objects) - Materials/Techniques:
- glass
blue - Subject:
- slavery
georgia
plantations
georgia
georgia
glass beads
trade beads - Measurement:
- 6 x 6 (faceted) (millimeters, length x diameter)
- Description:
- Hexagonal faceted blue glass bead, transparent medium cobalt blue with an opaque light blue or whitish tube at the center. Appears to match Kidd & Kidd type IIIf2. Ascher and Fairbanks (1971:8) suggest it is most likely this was carried from Africa by a slave, noting that it also could have come to the site through a more complex network of exchanges involving Native and Euro-American people. This type is well known from Native and slave contexts in the Southeast, although this bead is a relatively small example.
- Bibliography:
- Robert Ascher and Charles H. Fairbanks, "Excavation of a Slave Cabin: Georgia, U.S.A." Historical Archaeology 5 (1971), pp.3-17. Kidd, Kenneth E. and Martha Ann Kidd, "A Classification System for Glass Beads for the Use of Field Archaeologists". Originally published in Canadian Historical Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology andHistory No. 1, pp. 45-89. National Historic Sites Service, National and Historic Parks Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa.
- Archival Collection:
- Georgia Slave Cabin archaeological collection
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- The images in the Collection 'Selections from the Cornell Anthropology Collections' are protected by copyright, and the copyright holders are Cornell University Library and the Department of Anthropology. Physical artifacts from the Cornell Anthropology Collections were photographed by Cornell University Library in 2012-13 for inclusion in this image collection. Cornell is providing access to the materials for research and personal use. The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.
Cornell would like to learn more about items in this collection and to hear from individuals or institutions that have any additional information. This collection is funded by an Arts and Sciences Grant to Frederic W. Gleach, Curator of the Anthropology Collections. Please contact him for more information about this collection, or to request permission to use these images.