Artifact
Beads, Pendants & Sequins
| Artifacts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 46-1 | 7310-T | FS#: Striped turquoise glass bead. 1 opaque turquoise blue glass bead with three white stripes - drawn, barrel-shaped opaque turquoise necklace bead with three longitudinal opaque white stripes | |
| 46-2 | 5045 | FS#: Striped white glass bead. 1 opaque white bead with three blue and three red-on-brown stripes ? drawn, barrel-shaped necklace bead with six longitudinal stripes, alternating blue and red-on-brown | |
| 46-3 | 1836 | FS#: Striped white glass bead. 1 opaque white over translucent bluish gray with three triple blue stripes ? drawn, olive-shaped necklace bead of opaque white over translucent bluish gray with three triple blue spiral stripes on exterior | |
| 46-4 | 4280 | FS#: Ichtucknee Inlaid Black bead. 1 ICHTUCKNEE INLAID BLACK ? drawn, opaque dark brown barrel-shaped glass necklace bead with one eroded inlaid white stripe | |
| 46-5 | 4134 | FS#: Striped blue glass bead. 1 transparent navy blue bead with three opaque white stripes ? drawn, spheroid glass necklace bead with three longitudinal white stripes on exterior | |
| 46-6 | 3299 | FS#: Striped greenish blue glass bead. 1 transparent greenish blue bead with eight opaque white stripes ? drawn, spheroid glass necklace bead with eight slightly spiraling white stripes on exterior | |
| 46-7 | 4249 | FS#: Striped turquoise glass bead. 1 opaque blue bead with three red-on-white stripes ? drawn, barrel-shaped necklace bead with three longitudinal red-on-white stripes on exterior | |
| 46-8 | 2231 | FS#: Gooseberry bead. 1 GOOSEBERRY bead ? drawn, barrel-shaped necklace bead, colorless exterior over longitudinal white stripes over colorless core | |
| 46-9 | 4217 | FS#: San Luis Pendant (blue). 1 SAN LUIS PENDANT ? drawn, marvered, transparent blue/ultramarine glass pendant, top of attachment loop missing | |
| 46-10 | 5188 | FS#: San Luis Pendant (green). 1 SAN LUIS PENDANT ? drawn, marvered, transparent green glass pendant, intact | |
| 46-11 | 7224 | FS#: San Luis Pendant (yellow). 1 SAN LUIS PENDANT - ? drawn, marvered, transparent yellow glass pendant, intact | |
| 46-12 | 3630 | FS#: Punta Rassa Teardrop pendant. 1 PUNTA RASSA TEARDROP PENDANT ? transparent ultramarine glass pendant, drawn and molded | |
| 46-13 | 3630 | FS#: Burgundy glass bead (gilded & appliqued). 1 translucent dark burgundy glass bead with gilding and applied blue glass threads ? wound, barrel-shaped necklace bead with partial gilding and wavy glass threads applied at each end | |
| 46-14 | 7866 | FS#: Seven Oaks Gilded bead. 1 SEVEN OAKS GILDED bead ? wound, oblate transparent pale yellow glass necklace bead with impressed surface and gilding on exterior | |
| 46-15 | 7938-A | FS#: 5-layer tumbled Chevron bead. 1 CHEVRON bead ? drawn, barrel-shaped five-layer tumbled glass necklace bead, blue exterior | |
| 46-16 | 7894 | FS#: 7-layer tumbled Chevron bead. 1 CHEVRON bead ? drawn, spherical seven-layer tumbled glass necklace bead, blue exterior | |
| 46-17 | 4257 | FS#: Silver sequins. 2 silver sequins ? hammered from silver wire | |
| 46-18 | 7886 | FS#: Florida Cut Crystal Pendant. 1 FLORIDA CUT CRYSTAL PENDANT ? pear-shaped, ground facets | |
| 46-19 | 7743 | FS#: Florida Cut Crystal bead. 1 FLORIDA CUT CRYSTAL BEAD ? oblate with typical four rows of ground facets | |
Notes:
Beads and Pendants
Glass beads and pendants were an important part of gift giving, trade, and personal adornment in the Spanish colonies. We find numerous types of beads in sacred and secular contexts, and in both Spanish and Apalachee areas of San Luis.
Glass beads and pendants (Drawers 45, 46, 48) are typically described by manufacturing technique, shape, color, size, decoration, and, when appropriate, type name. Because some of the terms are jargon or ambiguous, the following definitions for terms used in the bead descriptions are provided. For additional information, please consult the suggested reading list for beads.
Type name
Type names are used when appropriate. Terms written in UPPERCASE letters are the commonly accepted type names of the bead or pendant style. Ichtucknee was misspelled decades ago (it should be Ichetucknee), but the misspelled version has been kept for consistency.
Color
There are several standardized color charts used by archaeologists to assign color to beads. The best (and most expensive) are Munsell color charts. Zipatone and ISCC-NBS (Inter-Society Color Council of the National Bureau of Standards) produced less expensive color charts that were used by archaeologists for years, including San Luis staff. Unfortunately, these alternative color charts are no longer available, but most of these alternate color designations can be correlated with Munsell colors.
Diaphaneity
This refers to the degree of transparency of beads.
Opaque: When light is shined behind a bead, you cannot see through it and the perforation is not visible.
Translucent: When light is shined behind a bead (from the side), you can see through it somewhat, but can't clearly see the perforation.
Transparent: When light is shined behind a bead, the perforation can be clearly discerned.
Shape
Oblate: Refers to a shape that is best described as a slightly "squashed" sphere.
Spheroid: Nearly spherical.
Torus: Refers to ring or donut-shaped beads.
Size
Seed beads: Small beads, less than 4 mm in diameter, which were typically used
for embroidery, but also on some jewelry.
Pony beads: Refers to beads of an intermediate size, usually 4 and 5 mm in diameter.
Necklace beads: Used here to refer to beads larger than 5 mm in diameter.
