Shell Beads: A Brief History
Shells are one of the earliest forms of beads that humankind discovered, for one obvious reason…take a walk along an ocean shoreline, not only will you find shells, some of them will even have pre-made holes in them, perfect for stringing. This kind of Robinson Crusoe style was one of humanities’ first attempts at accessorizing.
Today in countries like the Philippines, making beads out of shells is a local cottage industry- usually a by-product of the fishing industry. The mollusks that live within the shells are eaten as staple food; the shells are collected and brought to trades people that will fashion the raw materials into beads.
Sometimes, the process of bead making is done by larger processing manufacturers, most of the time; small independent operators that specialize in certain shapes are making the majority of beads. The same process is true of wooden beads, locally available wood such as palm and coco shells are made into hundreds of different thousand types of beads. These cottage industries provide livelihood for the thousands of people who work at bead making. So the next time you look at a string of shell beads, you will know there is a longer story behind them.