Bead-dazzled

Monty Fowler · October 22, 2014, 01:56:37 PM

Hmmmm, now that I see both sides of the bead, I'm rethinking "manmade." If that thing came out of a factory, you would think that the hole would be uniform through the axis of the bead. Or at least close. This hole is not.

Which may mean something. Or nothing at all.

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP

Jeff Victor Hayden · October 31, 2014, 05:44:22 AM

Used beads very similar to this in fishing tackle, called stopper beads. Some of them have a smaller hole on one side than the other for use with different size line and swivel/hook/paternoster...

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=stopper+beads+used+in+fishing+tackle&biw=1280&bih=637&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=EHRTVNTqGcyd7gbi6YCgBg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#imgdii=_

Monty Fowler · October 31, 2014, 06:28:24 AM

Jeff - good find! One of the advantages of posting research questions to TIGHAR's Vast and Unpaid Research Department. One of the items in the Luke Field inventory is "fishing tackle."

Doesn't say what kind, but we need to explore whether these beads were used in the 1930s. Also, what else was found in the vicinity of this bead? If there were bits of badly corroded metal wire-like items found, which might have been hooks, then that's another indicator.

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP

Dan Swift · October 31, 2014, 08:28:44 AM

You 'nailed it' Jeff!

Stacy Galloway · June 13, 2015, 06:13:41 PM

I was looking at Amelia in the Lae video to see if she was wearing any jewelry that could be attributed to this bead. At first I didn't see anything.

I thought that was the end of it until I realized that the 'scarf' she has around her neck is not actually tied around her neck. It looks to be tied to a necklace.

The scarf is a light piece of material that appears to be tied around something darker and much narrower.

If you watch the scarf in the first few seconds of the video you'll see that it doesn't appear to go completely around her neck.

When I captured a few photos from the video I was able to 'sharpen' the images a bit. It still appears to be a scarf tied to a necklace. And now I'm wondering if it could have been a beaded necklace or something similar that would account for that little red bead.

My laptops's a real gimpster and can't handle graphics at all- I've got a new one on order and should have it soon. Meanwhile, I keep borrowing my husbands. The details of the scarf/necklace come out much better on his.

I know some of you are really good with graphics and I was wondering if you can pick out any more of the details.

Here are a few images, but it might help to look at the video first and see what you think.

(And best of luck to the crew on Niku! I know they're going to make some amazing discoveries!)

Lae takeoff video on TIGHAR and on youtube

Here are the images I captured (sorry about the quality):

Stacy Galloway · June 14, 2015, 10:56:58 AM

I've sent this to a friend to look over. She's got a background in graphics and is very interested to see what she can pick out. So far, she says it does look as if the scarf is tied to something else (specifically how the scarf seems to be knotted). But she defers on whether the scarf is tied to a necklace or perhaps another scarf. Also, it may be that the scarf is multicolored with the darker colors around Amelia's neck and the lighter colors on the ends.

Meanwhile, I'm so excited for the daily news from Niku. I love it that Ric keeps us landlubbers updated on their progress. I got completely hooked on this during the last few expeditions and am very grateful that the 'daily updates' tradition has continued :) Good luck out there!

Margaret Sanders · June 15, 2015, 03:09:32 PM

Forgive me if any of this has been discussed in other parts of the forum, but regarding the bead: did Amelia wear earrings? Speaking from experience, I'm not sure I would consider including earrings in any kind of (previous) inventory list, or even think about them at all in context of travel or lightening a load. Any fasteners or metal used for the earrings may have corroded or washed away (or been used for more fishing tackle?).

Another theory which I'm sure has crossed everyone's mind is that it may have been a keepsake from home for any number of people who stayed on the island, or a souvenir purchsed in a sailor's travels.

Be gentle; I've lurked for ages but this is my first post.😕

Bob Smith · June 15, 2015, 05:19:04 PM

The bead material looks more like the old ones my mother had that were made out of some sort of pressed paper mache or maybe clay and I think they came from the pacific area, maybe Japan. I'll do more research...

Bob Smith · June 15, 2015, 05:36:48 PM

There are many sizes and colors available, but not many of a solid color. could be our artifact was weathered to a point that all design was obliterated or worn off.

Margaret Sanders · June 15, 2015, 06:55:50 PM

Bob, funny you should mention worn-off decoration. As I looked at the bead I relly thought I saw stripe remnants.

Margaret Sanders · June 15, 2015, 08:57:59 PM

A quick ebay search using the sophisticated key phrase 'old red bead' yielded an interesting result. Looking at any one of the several red coral beads I saw pitting that looked similar to that on the artifact. Here's one.
Also, I just can't shake the earring idea, so I asked my mother (who makes beaded jewelry) if she could think whether there would be a reason to want a jewelry bead to have one end of the hole larger in diameter than the other. She couldn't think of a reason. Just some thoughts, for what they're worth.

EDIT: Darn, I just reread the thread and saw where Ric said it really wasn't possible the bead is red coral. Oh, well.

Bob Smith · June 15, 2015, 09:23:32 PM

https://img0.etsystatic.com/037/0/9206400/il_214x170.571913592_nnno.jpg
Yes Margaret, that makes sense doesn't it - coral beads. something probably found locally or within the island neigborhood, or could be from anywhere! commonly used material for jewelry, though, and probably used forever! But why only one? Maybe they'll find more.

Margaret Sanders · June 15, 2015, 11:45:20 PM

Hi, Bob! I'd sure like to take credit for the coral idea but Jay Burkett brought it up earlier in the thread. I just latched on to it. I have absolutely no expertise in any subject save flights of fancy and the random spitting-out of various thoughts. My post before was a mixture of both.

Bob Smith · June 16, 2015, 06:13:35 AM

I guess no matter what the beads are made of or how they were made, the important thing is did Amelia wear them? There are gazillions of beads used for gazillions of uses. How do we find out if Amelia (or Fred ) was the user of these particular beads?

Margaret Sanders · June 16, 2015, 10:25:00 AM

Thanks for being so kind while breaking in a newbie, Bob! :)

Whatever substance it is made from, I suppose it would be almost secondary to determining ownership, wouldn't it? Although if we could determine a use for the bead (by using features such as markings that might indicate whether a metal pin had been been stuck through the hole and worn a small circle around the rim on one side) that might tell us what type of person might have used it.