Necklace made as a gift October, 2016

 

Hungarian inspired Necklace-made January, 2019

 

Putting Together a Bead Making Starter Kit & Places to Learn How to Make Beads

 PUTTING TOGETHER A BEAD MAKING STARTER KIT

&

PLACES TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE BEADS

 

 

Hot Head Bead Making Kit by Delphi Glass. This included the Hot Head Torch, Table-clamp torch holder (i.e. canister holder, L-Bracket and C-clamp), clear protective glasses, Mandrel set, Flame Dri bead release, Stainless steel rake, graphite marver paddle, fiber blanket and assortment of Italian glass rods. This can be found online for about $145-158 (e.g. www.delphiglass.com or Amazon). You’ll need to buy MAP gas separately.

 

BUYING SEPARATELY

It’s a bit more work because you’re shopping at different places, but some of the equipment you get when buying separately is of better quality. Some components will be cheaper, others will be the same. Many of the items below are necessary and some are optional.

 

Glass: You can buy 104 COE Glass Rods from online companies. Creation is Messy (CIM) and Effetre Morretti (or may be listed as just Effetre) make the best glass rods. Devardi also makes glass rods. They are less expensive but shock more easily. Some online companies: Frantz Art Glass, Arrow Springs, Dephi Glass Mountain Glass Arts.

 

Hot Head Torch: Order online from glass companies such as http://www.hotheadsource.com/ or Amazon.

 

Rod rest: Order online from glass companies or Amazon. Placed on your work surface to keep rods from rolling. When just getting started you can make a rod rest out of aluminum foil.

 

Mandrels: You can buy mandrels from the online glass companies. You may want to start with the 1/8” or 3/32” Mandrels either 9” or 12” long.

You can also make your own stainless steel mandrels. From a hardware store buy 1/8” or 3/32” stainless steel TIG welding rod comes in 3-foot lengths.  1 lb is 14 rods.  This is not the welding rod from the hardware store.  That contains an accelerant. You will need to cut these into 28 twelve-inch lengths and 14 eleven-inch lengths after cutting off the flat spot with the maker's mark.  A dremel tool with a cut-off blade is perfect for this job.  You will also need to smooth the rough cut.  Easiest with a grinding wheel, but it could be done quite slowly with a dremel tool.

Bead Release:  Goes on the mandrels. You can buy it from the online glass stores. I prefer the Fusion Bead Separator, but there are other brands like Foster Fire’s Smooth & Tuff

 

Mandrel Holder: Once you put bead release on one end of the mandrels you can hold them up in a container of playground sand.

MAP Gas: Found in tool and/or plumbing sections in local hardware stores. Check your town’s recycling policies for empty canisters.

 

Canister Holder: This is what is used to hold the map gas can and torch onto the table. That’s a ring clamp, C-clamp, and L-bracket.  Available at the hardware store.  Your size will vary depending on how you want to clamp your torch (or canister) and the surface you want to clamp to.

Striker: hardware stores. If you use a long ended lighter instead make sure to put it down away from your work surface for safety.

 

Fiber Blanket: Can be purchased from online glass companies or Amazon and put into an old cake pan. You have to be careful with fiber blankets because when you lift open the blanket to slide another bead in it can let cool air in on the beads already cooling in there. The changing temperatures can cause your beads to crack.

OR

Vermiculite: Instead of a fiber blanket you can cool beads down in Vermiculite in an empty metal coffee can. Vermiculite is inexpensive and found in the garden section of stores.

 

Table protection: Concrete tile backer board is available at the hardware store.  You can cover an entire table or just make “placemat” size.  Share the cost with a friend.  Aluminum sheeting would also work. An old cookie sheet or shallow baking pan with edges so things don’t roll off will also work.

 

Protective Eyewear: You can start with inexpensive clear glasses; however, it’s best to use Didymium glasses, which protect your eyes from the sodium flare, ultraviolet light, and infrared light. They start at $50.  Didymium glasses for over prescription glasses start at $105. The Didymium glasses can be ordered from Amazon or other online companies.

 

Marver- Used to push, shape and even out beads. It can be any non-flammable smooth surface.  Some kits come with an aluminum grooved textured marver; one side is smooth. The grooved side can be used to make segmented beads or angled segments. You can buy it separately from the online glass companies or Amazon. A graphite marver paddle will probably be more useful for pushing and shaping beads. Order online from glass companies or Amazon. For about $16, you can get a graphite marver paddle which is considerably more useful. The glass doesn’t stick to the graphite, the glass can be moved and shaped easily, and the graphite doesn’t get hot like the metal marver.

 

Glass storage: You can store them in a glass or ceramic container at your workstation. If you’re going to travel with them a rod case is available at Harbor Freight (orange, in the welding section) for about $5. You can use PVC piping to store them too.

 

Pliers:  They can be found inexpensively at Harbor Freight. They can be used for many things such as picking up hot glass and making stringer.

 

Metal Chopsticks (Hollow): These are great for making stringer or as a punty. They can be found on Amazon for cheap.

 

Bead Reamer- Available at craft stores for about $5.  Buy one with the rasp surface (rough).  The smooth surface ones will not serve your needs. To clean the bead release from the inside of your beads.

Rake: Order online from glass companies. Used to pull glass. You can also use a dental pick which can be purchased at Harbor Freight.

 

Other tools for shaping:  Use a butter knife for grooves and a slotted spoon for other designs. An exacto knife from Harbor Freight is great for Melon beads. You can also find other metal shapes tools at Harbor Freight.

 

Kevlar Sleeves- If you’d like protection for the bottom of your hands, wrists and lower arms. Can buy online at Amazon.

 

Leather Apron- To protect you and your clothes. Can be found at local hardware stores.

 

Emergency measures - 
A glass or ceramic jar with water to plunge beads that have gone wrong.  Use an old spaghetti sauce or jelly jar.  Wide mouth is easier.
Fire extinguisher - $12
Carbon monoxide detector - $20

Make sure you have air flow such as being in front of an open window with fans to vent the gas fumes out of the house.

 

Resources on Bead Making:

Books

You Can Make Beads by Cindy Jenkins

Passing the Flame by Corina Tettinger (her website also has useful tutorials) www.corinabeads.com

Just Plain Beads by Deanna Griffin Dove

Dots, Dots, Dots by Deanna Griffin Dove

 

You Tube-there are tons of different videos:

https://www.youtube.com/user/corinabeads/videos

https://www.youtube.com/user/jeannie291/videos (Jeannie Cox)
https://www.youtube.com/user/beadsbylaura/videos
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZT5MS0QmcNr1gI0G2PCMQQAEPwVgPcYx  (Delphi videos)
https://www.youtube.com/user/ISGBGlass/videos (International Society of Glass Beadmakers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAuYzysQzXA&list=PLx9b2TiEudYcZ0c8onXdulY8T_Rto37sg 

(Corning Museum of Glass)

 

Facebook Groups

Lampworking Tips and Tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lampworkbeadmaking/

Beginning Lampwork Challenges: https://www.facebook.com/groups/325979414513908/

Historical Bead Makers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/349778358792547

                                                             

Introduction to Glass Beadmaking: A brief history of beads, safety and equipment, and making your first bead

  

Introduction to Glass Beadmaking:

A brief history of beads, safety and equipment, and making your first bead

  

Baroness Aibhilin inghean Ui Phaidin

Mistress Lissa Underhill

 

History of Beads

 

The first beads to be discovered were dated to about 38,000 B.C.E., which is about the time that the Homo sapiens were replacing the Neanderthals. They were made from animal teeth and bones and were worn as pendants. Beads continued to be found in Western and Central Europe, the Mediterranean, and Russia as well as India, China, Korea, Africa and Australia. The design of the beads and how they were combined continued to develop as early as 17,000 to 10,000 B.C.E. Early humans also used ivory and shells to make beads, and used volcanic glass or obsidian to make tools, weapons and jewelry. Early beads were worn as displays of hunting prowess, for spiritual expression and protection, and as a means of personal identity. Beads also began to be found as grave offerings.

 

Man-made glass and glass beads began in Mesopotamia around 3,000 B.C.E. and then spread to Egypt. The Egyptian glass beads were as treasured as precious stones and were primarily used symbolically. As the Egyptian civilization was collapsing and the military conquests of the Mediterranean area were growing, glass objects began to be produced for trade and commerce instead of just for the use of the elite. The Phoenicians were known for the glass making skills learned from other cultures as well as those they developed themselves. After the founding of Islam and with the development of the Muslim cultures, Islamic glass working flourished from 700 C.E. to 1400 C.E. Though they utilized the techniques found in Egypt and the Roman Empire, the Islamic artisans also integrated new styles and techniques into their bead making. The international trade of Islamic merchants enabled connections between Islamic artisans and those in other areas such as Scandinavia, India and China.

 

As the Roman rule began, glassmaking spread to areas such as Spain, France and Rhineland. As the Romans traveled trade followed. As different cultures became more advanced and connected, the level of craft skills and the spread of skills between cultures grew. The complex artistry with detailed decoration and shaping of glass beads can begin to be seen. As the Roman Empire fell, glass working became more regional. During the Migration Period in Europe (i.e. from the 4^th -8^th centuries) cultures such as the Franks, Merovingians, and Anglo-Saxons were developing their own styles. Towards the end of the Migration Period, around 800 to 1000 C.E., there was glass bead making in Viking towns such as Ribe and Birka.  The Vikings both brought back beads from their travels to areas such as Northern and Eastern Europe. As the Vikings often settled in areas where they traded, beads were found in those locations too.

 

The development of the Christian era meant that people were no longer burying with their goods and jewelry was inhibited by the Church as it was considered to be a Pagan practice. Bead making diminished until the 15^th century when it reappeared and flourished in Venice. From the Renaissance to the 20^th Century, the European glass bead industry grew as did the development of manufacturing techniques, the volume of bead production and the variety of beads produced. Beads were part of the more complex trade routes along with other goods; with beads going from Europe to Africa. The Venetians set up bead making centers in Holland, Bohemia and Moravia (i.e. now Czechoslovakia) which prospered as did the variety of type of and volume of beads produced. Though there was bead making in other areas, the glass making in Venice was unmatched.

 

Ancient glass had the same components as the types of glass used by bead makers today: silica, soda (a flux to lower the melting point of the silica) and lime (calcium as a stabilizer to harden the glass and to keep the ingredients in their cohesive form). Silica comes from sand or flint (i.e. ground siliceous rocks). The more silica, the softer the glass. Soda (flux) was made from the ash of burned aquatic plants or potash which is from the ash of woodland plants. It is now produced chemically and therefore is more easily accessible. The addition of extra ingredients, either accidental or purposeful, change the quality of the glass. The addition of metals created different colors: cobalt- blues and green, iron- green, manganese- purple, cuprous oxide- opaque red, antimony- white, and lead and antimony- yellow. In the late Bronze Age manganese was deliberately added to create a colorless glass.

 

Heat is needed to form glass from its raw ingredients. It is then used to re-heat, shape and manipulate pre-shaped glass rods. In the ancient world the pre-shaped forms of glass, such as rods, ingot, grain or lump of glass, were sold or traded to glass workers’ workshops all over.  Period heat sources were stone or clay structures fired with wood or charcoal. The Venetians used oil lamps which is where the term lamp working came from. Today modern heat sources of torches with fuels are used.

 

There were different methods of working the glass in period. Hot trailing used a ceramic dish or crucible in which glass was melted and a metal rod was placed in the molten glass to pick it up and then wind it onto the mandrel. Ribbon winding or winding used a rod of glass that was heated and then wound onto the mandrel. The winding method is what we use today, but with more widely available, diverse, and sophisticated glass options.

 

Safety and Equipment

 

We are using hot head torches and map gas. As we are working with fire and the glass rods can crack, wearing natural fibers, closed toe footwear and long sleeves, having long hair tied back and wearing safety glasses is needed. We’re using inexpensive clear glasses. Once you’re using the torch consistently, having the Didymium glasses is important protection for your eyes from the flash of flame that occurs from the soda burning off the glass rod. With these glasses on you cannot see the flash.  If a small piece of glass cracks off stay calm, and if it lands on you just brush it off. Never stand up with the flame on; always turn it off first before moving away.

 

The flame has 3 areas, the lowest being the blue flame right above the torch. We do not use this area. If your glass goes down into the blue, you’ll hear a hissing sound. The next area up is the “working area” where we melt, wind and work the glass. The last area up is where we pre-heat the glass rod and begin to cool down the bead.  In addition to the torch and the flame, the areas around the flame including the sides, front, behind and even well above the flame are hot. So do not reach above or across the torch.  Pay attention to where you have your glass rods and tools; always making the sure the hot side is away from you.

 

We use glass rods that are opaque and transparent. The opaque rods are softer and will melt more easily. The colors of some rods are easier to see when melted and those colors can be easier to work with initially (i.e. yellow will turn red and red will turn black). We put bead release made from clay onto the mandrel so that we can get our finished beads off of the mandrel. Glass will stick to uncoated mandrels. While making a bead, if you feel that the glass is not sticking to the mandrel or the bead release has come off at the edge of the bead, stop and put the mandrel down on the cookie sheet. You’ll need to start over.

 

The glass rod is held in the dominant hand in an underhanded pencil-like grip. Cold glass needs to be tempered or heated up slowly or it will shock or crack so you will hold the rod vertically as you introduce it to the flame moving just the end of the rod in and out of the flame. Point it away from you and down because whichever direction the tip of the rod is pointed is the direction any broken glass will fly. Once the tip of the glass rod begins to glow, turn your wrist so that the glass rod is horizontal. You very slightly roll the glass rod up and down so that all “sides” of the rod are heated and melted. Keep the end of the glass rod in the flame and it will melt into a ball or “gather”. The smaller the gather, the easier it is to manipulate when first learning to make beads. The bigger the gather, the more glass you’ll be winding onto the mandrel. As you’re heating up your glass rod you’ll need to warm up your mandrel in the flame too. The molten glass won’t stick to a cool mandrel and bead release.

 

The mandrel is held in your non-dominant hand with an overhand grip that allows you to rotate the mandrel. Once the gather is ready and your mandrel is warmed, you turn your wrist so that the glass rod is back to being vertical. Touch the tip the gather to the heated mandrel. The end of the glass rod should be in the flame and the mandrel is just below the flame. Then rotate the mandrel away from you as you slightly pull the glass rod toward you. Keep the mandrel and the glass rod in the same position as you wind the glass around mandrel making a complete circle. In order to remove the glass rod from the bead you pull the glass rod towards you and down slightly and let the flame cut the glass.

 

You put your glass rod down on the cookie sheet and continue to rotate the mandrel away from you. Glass wants to be spherical but gravity will also take effect. Rotating the bead will allow it to form evenly; if one “side” is bigger than the other or starts to droop, holding that side on the top of the mandrel in the flame briefly will help the glass to even out.  Making sure that you’re holding the mandrel straight horizontally will also help to insure a more even bead.

 

Once the bead is “done”, move the bead just behind the flame as you continue to rotate the mandrel so that the bead keeps its shape as it cools enough to lose its glow. This takes about 10 seconds. Then turn off the flame and do the “tink” test; clinking the bead onto metal. Once you hear a “tink” versus a “thud” you know it is cool enough to go into the can of vermiculite to finish cooling down slowly.

 

 

Citations:

Cummings, Keith, A History of Glassforming, University of Pennsylvania Press, Chapters 1-4

Dubin, Lois Sherr, The History of Beads: from 30,000 B.C. to the Present, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York.

Tettinger, Corina, Passing the Flame (A Beadmakers Guide to Detail and Design), BonzoBucks & Books Publishing, 2002

Mischief in Glass: Evil Eye Beads: September, 2015

 

Mischief in Glass: Evil Eye Beads

September, 2015

Aibhilin inghean Ui Phaidin

(mka Erica Janowitz)

 

 

For thousands of years many cultures created and used symbols and talisman for spiritual or ritualistic purposes. Glass has been used not only in art but also to create apotropaic eye beads which were used as protective devices to prevent misfortune and to ward off the “evil eye”. Extant examples have been found in the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries B.C. in Eastern Mediterranean areas including Egypt and Phoenicia as well as in Celtic settlements across Western and Eastern Europe such as areas that are present day France and Bulgaria. In fact the Celts who settled in the Balkins also settled the Celtic state of Galatia (i.e. present day Turkey). Evil eye talisman continue to be seen today in southeastern Europe and in the Mediterranean.

 

Glass evil eye beads were found in bracelets and necklaces. The glass beads were typically created with simple, geometric patterns. The use of concentric circles were most common as were the colors yellow, dark blue, turquoise blue or green and white. Stacked dots of white and dark blue in 3 or 5 layers were used to make the “eye”. Beads had different combinations of eyes such as 4 single eyes, 4 double eyes or combinations of single and double eyes. Some beads had additional small raised yellow dots around the rim of the bead and others were double beads.

 

I have recreated two Phoenician beads each one based on a string of glass eye beads from collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; a Phoenician string of opaque yellow beads with blue and white layered eyes from 330-70 B.C. and a Greek/Eastern Mediterranean string of blue beads with white and blue layered eyes from 6^th-4^th century B.C. As these were my first evil beads, I created single beads with 4 single eyes per bead. I will continue to improve the consistency of my dot size and placement as well as the symmetry of my dots. In order the improve my skills at making layered or stacked dots (or eyes), I will attempt to recreate double eyes on beads and double beads as well as adding on the small raised dots found on the composite eye bead as seen in the Corning Glass Museum collection. I imagine at that point my ability to protect against mischief and misfortune will have only continued to grow.

 

 

References:

 

Composite Eye Bead. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2015, from http://www.cmog.org/artwork/composite-eye-bead-8?image=0

 

Glass eye beads | Phoenician | Hellenistic. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2015, from http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/239901?=&imgno=0&tabname=label

 

Life on a String: 35 Centuries of the Glass Bead. (2013, January 25). Retrieved September 20, 2015, from http://www.cmog.org/article/life-string-35-centuries-glass-bead

 

Markoe, G. (2000). Phoenicians. University of California Press.

String of ninety-seven glass eye beads | Greek, Eastern Mediterranean. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2015, from http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/249931

 

The Celtic Evil Eye. (2003, February 4). Retrieved September 20, 2105.

 

 

The Study and Reproduction of Irish Glass Beads Excavated from the Deer Park Farms Settlement Site in County Antrim Ireland-4/2018

 The Study and Reproduction of Irish Glass Beads Excavated from the Deer Park Farms Settlement Site in County Antrim Ireland

 

Aibhilin inghean Ui Phaidin

April, 2018

  

An overview of the archeology and history of glass beads in Ireland:

Glass beads have been found at numerous excavation sites across Ireland including settlement sites, royal sites, ecclesiastical sites, and less often cemetery sites. Unlike Anglo-Saxon and Viking glass beads which were typically found in grave sites and were considered what the people may have worn for special occasions, the glass beads found in Ireland were not often found in grave sites as the Christian Irish typically did not bury with goods. The beads found in settlement sites such Deer Park Farms and royal sites such as Lagore Crannóg are thought to show more about everyday life and dress.

The Irish excavations generally did not yield large assemblages of beads. In fact, some beads were originally thought to be lost or stray and older excavation reports typically did not contain much descriptions of the beads found. Without sets of beads or large assemblages from individual excavation sites, it made researching beads in Ireland difficult as researchers did not have the benefit studying of the context in which beads were found to learn about use and significance (Mannion, 2015, 1). However, in her 2013 study, Irish Archaeologist, Dr. Margaret (Mags) Mannion noted common features of color, form, and size amongst the individual beads found in excavation sites across Ireland. She then used a modified methodology to study and compare these insular (Irish) beads by creating a standardized classification system grouping the beads into 18 different classes of color and form that are then divided into 2 main categories: plain and decorated beads. (Appendix I)

Glass beads at Deer Park Farms:

After the royal site of Lagore Crannóg, the settlement of Deer Park Farms is significant in that it yielded second largest assemblage of glass beads found at an excavation site in Ireland with total of 86 glass beads representing 12 of the 18 classes of beads considered to be native to Ireland (Appendix I). The beads most commonly found at the site were 39 globular beads, 11 annular beads, and 9 Herringbone beads. Four times as many decorated beads were from the Raised Rath period. Lynn and McDowell questioned whether it was due to an increase in availability of the beads, a change in the owners’ status and therefore ability to procure those beads, and/or a preference for those types of beads by their wearers (2011, p. 617).

The color of beads found at the site as well as other excavation sites is significant in that most of beads were blue with white beads following second. Blue is a prominent color seen in Irish beads yet researchers can only presume the meaning or social context. The word “glas” in old Irish could be used for blue, green and grey. Siewers (cited in Mannion, 2015, p. 100-101) studied early Irish literature from the 8^th century and discussed the “Colors of Martyrdom” found in the Camdrai Homily: bánmartre (white martyrdom), dercmartre (red martyrdom), glasmatre (blue/green/grey martyrdom). One thought is that these Colors of Martyrdom may have influenced the color choices of bead makers. Another thought is that the blue may represent the water and sky of Ireland, green may represent grass and vegetation, and gray may represent the rocks and cliffs of Ireland (Mannion, 201, 100).

Dating and Significance of Glass Beads at Deer Park Farms:

Where beads were found within excavation sites, provides information on the dating of the beads and on the social context or significance of the beads to those who owned and wore them. Chemical analysis of beads gives information on the glass used to make the bead, but not the bead itself (Mannion, 2015, 3) Instead, radiocarbon dating of the materials in the context or location in which the bead was found indicates the age of the bead and the age in which it was used or worn. In these excavation sites radiocarbon dating was done on samples of contexts such as charcoal, burnt material, oak timbers, organic material in the layer, bedding material, and floor layers.

The majority of beads were found the later phases of the Rath period (i.e., range of radiocarbon dates of about 650-770 AD) and in the earlier phases of Ringed Rath period (i.e., range of radiocarbon dates of about 770-950). The beads were most often found in the dwelling houses (i.e., single homes or the front house of a figure-8 pair) or in layers of burnt materials from the houses destroyed by fire. Many beads were found in intact bedding material in the houses that survived. Beads were also found in the midden layers outside of the house but within the rath bank enclosure. Midden layers consisted of food waste, animal droppings, and refuge materials from the bedding and floors of the houses. Archaeologist believe that the artifacts found there may have been accidentally dropped or accidentally discarded with the refuse from the house.

The second largest concentration of beads that came from one context consisted of 11 beads that were found in the bedding of a home from the Rath with one bead found in a clay layer below the bedding, and are dated from 660-780 AD. There were 3 Class 10 Herringbone beads and 9 Class 15 Globular beads (i.e. 8 blue and 1 white). Smaller amounts of beads were also found in the bedding of three other structures. Though there was no string present archaeologists surmise that the beads may have been strung as a necklace based on their proximity to one another. Knowledge of how beads were frequently worn as necklaces in other cultures along with evidence from a few excavations of Irish grave sites of groups of beads found together near the neck of female skeletons support the thought that these beads would have been strung and worn as necklaces. Though few neck torcs have been found in other Irish excavation sites, there more evidence for beads as neck ornaments (Kerr, et al, 2015, 96).

Twenty-one metal pins were found at the site. One glass topped iron pin was found in the burnt layers of house without radiocarbon dating. Thought the structure built to replace it has a radiocarbon date of 710-950 AD. Though no picture of the pin was available archeologists describe the pin as having glass top as a “fusion of two beads” with the lower portion being “blue glass with a single white cable loosely spirally around it” and the upper portion being “blue glass with forms a cone...sloping down from the end of the pin” to the lower portion (Lynn and McDowell, 2013, p. 339). Stick pins and ringed pins were thought to be used by most people as dress fasteners (cited in Kerr, et al, 2015, p 95). Though these pins were often not as decorative as brooches, more glass topped pins have been found at other excavation sites in Ireland and are considered to have been worn for personal adornment as well as function.

These personal items such as the glass beads, necklace and pin which were found in houses or burnt remains of houses, and in bedding are considered to be used in daily life and therefore help give a picture of life in early medieval Ireland. While the pin found is considered to be both functional and decorative, the beads are thought to be pure decorative.

History and significance of the Deer Park Farms settlement site:

The excavation of the Deer Park Farms (DPF) site is significant in that it shows the continual evolution and use of a homestead in the Early Christian period for over 200 years. Due to waterlogging on sections of the site, especially in the first half the settlement’s occupation, there were a considerable amount of remains and artifacts excavated. The excavation of DPF not only yielded significant information on the history of the layout of the land and the houses of settlement site but information on what their everyday lives may have been.

Archeological evidence indicates that Deer Park Farms was a small family homestead that was occupied from the mid-7th century to the late 10th century. The history of the occupation of Deer Park Farms (Appendix II) was broken down by the archaeologists into 13 phases with each new phase indicating the construction of a new building or structure at the center of the Rath (i.e., a circular piece of land enclosed with an embankment of clay and stone) . Buildings were replaced when they were no longer stable or when they burnt down. Deer Park Farms also significant as the only site to date that has provided such extensive evidence of the progression of a settlement from a Rath into a “more prestigious Raised Rath” or flat topped, stone-revetted mound” (Lynn and McDowell 2011, 565 & 575). 

Social Status of Occupants of Deer Park Farms:

Archaeologists compared the evidence of the structures (i.e. field boundaries, enclosures, and houses) and artifacts of craft activities and personal possessions with 8^th Century law tract on status and social hierarchy (i.e. Críth Gablach) (Lynn and McDowell 2011, 304) which indicated that the primary occupant of the center house was likely that of mruigfer status or land man, and would have been considered to be prosperous. The size of the primary houses and back houses along with construction of a Raised Rath mound that was “well drained and well-finished” with “well-fitted boulders” (Lynn and McDowell, 2011, 622-623).

Organic material and artifacts found give evidence of a wide range of crafts related to agricultural production and the creation of equipment or products used for survival, nutrition, and even comfort (Kerr, et al, 621). Artifacts made from materials of iron, stone, bone, glass, wood, and leather were used for crafts including stock rearing, cultivation, planting/harvesting/processing, wicker weaving/basketry, cooking, woodland management, metalworking, textile production-spinning, dyeing, and  tablet weaving, shoe making, carpentry/woodworking, and manufacturing of stave-built wooden vessels. Equipment and possessions such as spits and supports for a cauldron, iron cooking utensils, washing trough, tubs, candlesticks, knives, an auger, a saw, spears, an axe, a billhook, a spear, a plough, stave-built vessels, snout of pigs and a hook for hanging meat, and a share in a mill would correlate to being owned by a “land man” (Lynn and McDowell, 2011, 605).

In addition, much of the indications of status are also seen in evidence that the owner was able to be self-sufficient with raw materials and craft materials to make what they needed. He had access to woodland for quality wattle and other woods used for the structures, access to food and other natural resources, equipment to make necessary items need to meet their daily needs as well as “luxury items” such as glass beads, stave-built vessels, and good leather shoes (Lynne and McDowell, 2013, p. 65) which were not necessary for survival and all indicate that the occupant was well-off.

My Reproduction of the Glass Beads and Jewelry from Deer Park Farms:

In addition to reproducing examples of the more commonly found beads (i.e., annular, globular, and herringbone), I also reproduced some of the beads found in small quantities based on my technical abilities to recreate the beads (i.e. segment beads and lattice beads). I am learning to reproduce interlace and dark spiral beads and have included my beginning attempts in the collection. I recreated and strung the collection of beads thought to have been worn as a necklace. Lastly, based on my perception of the archaeologists’ description of the one glass topped pin, I reproduced the glass top on a pin that my husband created for me.

Modern vs. Period Glass Bead Making:

The commercially made glass rods that I used to make my reproductions are made with the same components as those used by bead makers in early medieval Ireland and other countries: silica, soda (a flux to lower the melting point of the silica) and lime (calcium as a stabilizer to harden the glass and to keep the ingredients in their cohesive form). Silica comes from sand or flint (i.e. ground siliceous rocks). The more silica, the softer the glass. Soda (flux) was made from the ash of burned aquatic plants or potash which is from the ash of woodland plants. The addition of metals create different colors (e.g., copper and cobalt- blues and greens, iron- green, manganese- purple, cuprous oxide- opaque red, antimony- white, lead and antimony- yellow) (Cummings, 2002). Both medieval and period glass makers use heat to form glass from these raw ingredients into glass which can then be put in crucibles or re-heated, shaped and manipulated into pre-shaped glass rods. Glass makers then sold or traded the glass to glass bead makers. Glass is now produced chemically and therefore is more easily accessible. Modern glass manufacturers are also able to create a greater diversity of colors of glass and glass with special reflective, reactive, and color shifting properties.

There were different methods of working the glass in period. Glass was melted in a crucible and a metal rod was placed in the molten glass to pick it up and then wind it onto the mandrel (i.e., hot trailing). A rod of glass that was heated and then wound onto the mandrel was also used. This method of winding heated glass onto the mandrel is what I used. I used commercially produced stainless steel mandrels that are not unlike the iron rod mandrels used in period. I created twisted stringers that I then used to decorate the Herringbone Beads. The single colored stringers I made were used to decorate the Lattice Beads, Dark Spiral Beads, and the glass topped pin. Bead makes in period decorated their beads in the same manner.  I used a modern heat source (i.e. Hot Head Torch and Mapp Gas) to recreate the beads. Period heat sources were stone or clay structures fired with wood or charcoal with the bellows to add extra oxygen to increase the temperature of the flame.

I used pins my husband made for me using modern cold rolled steel rods that he cut and shaped into a pin. I have previously made simple glass topped pins from modern corsage pins and made ringed pins from modern wire. Though the pins I used for this project do not have enough taper, they are a closer representation to what would have been used in period than what I have used before. At the time of the Deer Park Farms settlement, pins were thought to be made from sections or rods of copper-alloy that were wrought into shape by “hammering, annealing and filing” of the metal into the “desired cross-section and shape” (Fanning, 1994). 

Experimental Bead Furnace:

Mistress Elysabeth (Lissa) Underhill, Mistress Brunissende (Bruni) Dragonette, and I have created experimental versions of more period furnaces as a heat source for making beads. I have successfully made beads on our latest versions of the furnace as well as made or “pulled” stringer.

(Appendix III)  We used commercially made mandrels and glass rods as our focus was studying and recreating the charcoal-fueled furnace using wood charcoal. We started with the glass rods that we use with modern fuels (i.e., 104 COE), but quickly found that softer glass (i.e., higher COE) was easier to use. In an e-mail correspondence with Corning Museum’s Research Library, Lissa learned that the COE of early period glass is unknown. Making beads on a more period furnace was a challenge. It requires a second person to work a bellows or in our case the battery operated air mattress pump we used in lieu of a bellows. We have learned that a large, double bellows would be needed to provide the air flow/pressure that we get from the air mattress pumps.

We found that we were able to make approximately 2 beads at the most or possibly one with simple decoration on one firing/heating of charcoal to the right temperature before the charcoal would burn down. Once burnt down and the heat was lost, more charcoal had to be added to the furnace and given some time to heat back up to the point where we could melt the glass rod. This was an effortful and time consuming process compared to the number of beads that could be made in one setting. Shaping and decorating beads over the furnace also proved to be challenging as we had less control over the burning of the charcoal and the heat of the flame. Using a modern torch and fuel, gives us control over the flame and amount of heat at any given time (i.e. by turning the dial on the torch higher or lower) and provides much more consistency. Beads can be made with significantly more effectively and more efficiently; when you run out of fuel you only need to replace the can of Mapp gas and second person is not needed at all.

Lessons Learned and Future Plans:

I have an ongoing project studying the glass beads and glass jewelry found across early medieval Ireland at a number of excavation sites. As my glass bead making skills improve and I learn new techniques, I will be able to recreate more of the beads found at Deer Park Farms as well as those found at other excavation sites. My goal is to have the technical skills that will enable me to create Mannion’s entire typography of Irish and imported beads (Appendix I).

This project was my first time focusing on the glass beads solely from one excavation site in Ireland, and it provided me with a much deeper understanding of not only the social meaning and significance of the glass beads found at the site, but of the people who lived there and wore those beads. The beads they owned, wore and possibly treasured are one element of who they were and how they lived. A more in depth study of the excavation site taught me not only much more about what their lives and culture may have been, but also what life in rural Early Christian Ireland may have been.

I anticipate doing more work with the experimental period furnace. In fact, Mistress Elysabeth (Lissa) Underhill and I have plans to work with Mistress Keely the Tinker and her experimental period furnaces at Pennsic. It’ll be interesting to compare the challenges that Lissa and I experienced with maintaining heat and the time it took to make the beads with Mistress Tinker’s process.

Lastly, it is my goal to acquire more period pins (i.e., materials, manufacturing and style). In period, the pins would most likely not have been made by the glass bead maker, but rather a metalsmith, especially at locations that were large enough to sustain individualized and different craftspeople. For smaller sites craftspeople may have add to overlap different skills. Therefore, it would be quite period for me to barter, trade or commission pins to decorate from the local metalsmiths.

Bibliography

Cummings, Keith. 2002. A History of Glassforming, University of Pennsylvania Press,     Chapters 1-4. 

Dubin, Lois Sherr.1987. The History of Beads: from 30,000 B.C. to the Present, Harry N.  Abrams, Inc., New York.

Fanning, T. (1994). Viking Age Ringed Pins from Dublin. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy

Hencken, H.1950, November. Lagore Crannog: An Irish Royal Residence of the 7th to 10^th Centuries A.D. Proceeding of the Royal Irish Academy, 1-151.

Kerr, Thomas R., et al. 2015. Early Medieval Crafts and Production in Ireland, AD 400-1100: the Evidence from Rural Settlements. Archaeopress.

Lynn, C., & McDowell, J. A. 2011. Deer Park Farms: The excavation of a raised rath in the Glenarm Valley, Co. Antrim. Norwich: Stationery Office.

Mannion, Margaret. 2013. An Examination of Glass Beads from Early Medieval Ireland. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ARAN-Access to Research at NUI Galway. URI: http://aran.library.nuigalway.ie/xmlui/handle/10379/3724

Mannion, M. 2015. Glass beads from early medieval Ireland: Classification, dating, social          performance. Oxford: Archaeopress

Sode, Torben (2004). “Glass Bead Making Technology.” In Mogens Bencard, Aino Kann Rasmussen and Helge Brinch Madsen. Ribe Excavations 1970-76. vol 5. Jutland Archaeological Society.  p. 82-102.

Tettinger, Corina. 2002. Passing the Flame (A Beadmaker’s Guide to Detail and Design). BonzoBucks & Books Publishing.

Wallace, P. 2008. Irish Archaeology and the Recognition of Ethnic Difference in Viking Dublin. In J. Habu, and C. Fawcett, and J. M. Matsunaga (eds), Evaluating Multiple Narratives: Beyond Nationalist, Colonialist and Imperialist Archaeologies. New York.