Beads are ornaments that have accompanied people across cultures for centuries. They were most often made from colored glass, but also from amber, shells, or clay. Each bead has a hole, allowing it to be strung on a cord and worn as a necklace.
The first clay and glass beads were made in ancient times in the Middle East—in Mesopotamia and Egypt. In Europe, their production was mainly carried out by the ancient Greeks, Celts, and Romans. Archaeologists find numerous examples of beads in both Poland and Norway, which once adorned our ancestors.
Their shapes were very diverse: barrel-shaped, cylindrical, spherical, tubular, or segmented. Some had a single color, while others were decorated with intricate patterns and contrasting colors.
Can you guess how such precise shapes and intricate patterns were made?
Soon you’ll learn a few techniques that you can try at home, but first, see how they were made in the Middle Ages thanks to the passion of reenactors from the Gothic Village in Masłomęcz.
Traditional Bead-Making Methods
Glass beads were shaped over a specially prepared furnace. The base of the bead was made by winding molten glass around a metal rod, and while the glass was still soft, its shape could be formed with a hard tool, for example by adding decorative grooves. Making multicolored beads required more complex techniques, as well as greater time and precision.
Activity:
Let’s make our own beads
To make similar beads at home, you don’t need a special furnace—just use modeling clay and a regular kitchen oven! And if you use plasticine, you won’t even need that.
Below, we present a few bead-making techniques inspired by traditional methods. Try them all and create your own necklace!
Materials needed:
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Modeling clay or plasticine
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Scissors
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Ruler
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Cord
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Long toothpick
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Clear varnish (optional)
1. Mosaic Technique
Choose two colors of modeling clay or plasticine. Roll each color into thin sticks—four of each color. Place them alternately next to each other and roll them together by hand into a cylinder. Then, use a ruler to cut the cylinder into smaller pieces—each piece will become an individual bead.
Thread the beads onto a toothpick to create holes in the center—at this stage, you can also adjust their shape if needed. If you tried to make the holes after removing them from the toothpick, the holes might become misshapen.
2. Glass Tube Drawing Technique
Shape a ball and thread it through the center onto a toothpick. We will decorate it using a ruler by pressing vertical stripes onto the bead. Make the grooves by sliding the ruler along the curve of the bead—from one side of the hole to the other. Repeat several times around the entire bead.
This way, we create a bead that archaeologists call a melon bead. Why do you think it’s called that?
3. Coiling Technique
The name of this technique speaks for itself—we will be coiling! Take a piece of modeling clay or plasticine and roll it into a long coil, about 10–15 cm. Then, take a toothpick and attach one end of the coil to it. Wrap the long end around the toothpick to form a coiled bead.
As a final step, try the free-shaping technique—let your imagination run wild and shape your bead in any form and colors you can think of!
Once all the beads are shaped, there is only one last step left.
If you used plasticine, simply thread the beads onto a cord and enjoy your beautiful necklace.
If you used modeling clay, you need to bake it in the oven according to the instructions on the package. You can also paint the baked beads with clear varnish to make them shine like glass!
Go to the gallery and explore 3D models of beads discovered in Poland and Norway:
Learn more about archaeological artifacts from popular science articles: