Customer Reviews

A Bead Timeline, Vol. I: Prehistory to 1200 CE

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is meant to be a guide to the Bead Timeline exhibit in Washington, DC. It does not include the earliest neolithic beads that have been found dating back as far as 100,000 BC. What it does give is a very good commentary on the techniques of bead making from about 12,000 BC up to 1200 CE, and shows good examples from the collection. There is ample information about where beads have been found (everywhere) and it alludes to the role beads have played in cultural diffusion and technological development. As new discoveries are made, the collection will be expanded.

Lankton tells us he hopes that, after seeing a small sample, the reader will want to visit the actual collection. He has convinced me.

James Lankton's monograph appears to be a must-have for any archaeologist. It reconstructs the history of bead-making from the very beginning until 1200 C.E. and has many beautiful colour pictures of different beads. When you look at the pictures, you immediately recognize how many different types of beads exist and how beautiful they are. The monograph also shows many exhange, trade and cultural connections between many societies of the past. In fact, it's an excellent monograph. But I must emphasize that it concerns a very special topic and will be useful and evolving only if you like archaeology, history of art or beads themselves.