Bead Jewelry Dates Back to the Ice Ages

Although experts have described beads as a "human artifact older than the dawn of civilization", history tells us that these stones trace back 40,000 years.

Archeologists found beads in caves dating back to the Ice Ages when humans fashioned them out of animal bones and teeth, seashells and stones strung together with plant fiber.

Archaeologists have uncovered stones from all around the world. It was only around 8,000 B.C.—when humans transitioned from nomads to settlers—that people could develop their stone and Swarovski Crystal Bead-making craft.

As bead trading grew, the techniques used to create them began to spread. The entire world’s population was able make or buy beads created from local materials—from clay and gemstones to ivory and Swarovski crystal. The bead means spirituality to some and social and political wealth to others.

When bead trading began to grow, cultures used them to protect humans from danger, to strengthen their connection with spirits, as a way to bring about luck or to bring about a good harvest. But craftsman soon began to create gemstone, ivory, porcelain and bead jewelry for aesthetic purposes.

People still wear these precious stones today to share oneself with a higher spiritual or natural purpose. A Grain of Sand brings you a wide selection of such beaded jewelry, and Swarovski Crystal Beads.

Click on any of the links below to browse our selection of Semi-Precious Gemstone Beads: