The string of beads above are of Venetian manufacture and date to the early 1700's. These are called "faceted" beads because of the 6 to 8 flat spots that are randomly placed on them. They were hand blown and made individually. Blue, clear, amber, and rarely, green are found on Indian sites throughout the southeast. With shell beads being made and used since the late woodland cultures, the Indians of the early historic period became quite fond of the new colors and translucence of these beautiful beads. Glass beads were probably the most traded for items of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. We have over 130 varieties of beads in our collection that were found on sites in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. Some are a lot rarer than others. The ones pictured above are rarity 9 on a scale of 1 to 10. These beads are not to be confused with the later "faceted" beads of the 1790's to early 1800's that were also traded in the Southeast. These later examples have more facets, sometimes as many as 12 to 14 per bead, and were made by grinding the edges to accomplish the faceted effect. The early examples were possibly made by patting the bead with a paddle while still in a hot molten  glass form. This could be one of the styles of beads used to barter for Manhattan Island. History says we acquired this island  from the natives for a "hand full of glass beads".