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Despite their ubiquity in Holocene African archaeological assemblages, ostrich eggshell (OES) beads are rarely studied in detail. An exception is in southern Africa, where there is a proposed relationship between OES bead diameter and the arrival of herding ~2000 years before present. In 1987, Leon Jacobson first observed that beads from forager sites in Namibia tended to be smaller than those associated with herder sites. Studies examining bead size around the Western Cape have generally confirmed Jacobson's findings, though the driving forces of the diameter change remain unknown. Since this time, diameter has become an informal way of distinguishing forager and herder assemblages in southern Africa, but no large-scale studies of OES bead variation have been undertaken. Here we present an expanded analysis of Holocene OES bead diameters from southern, and for the first time, eastern Africa. Results reveal distinct patterns in OES bead size over time, reflecting different local dynamics associated with the spread of herding. In southern Africa, OES diameters display low variability and smaller absolute size through time. While larger beads begin to appear <2000 years ago, most beads in our study remained smaller. In contrast, eastern African OES bead diameters are consistently larger over the last 10,000 years and show no appreciable size change with the introduction of herding. Notably, larger beads thought to be associated with herders in southern Africa fall within the range of eastern African beads, indicating a potential connection between these regions in the Late Holocene consistent with genetic findings. Regional differences in bead size are subtle, on the order of millimeters, yet offer a potentially important line of evidence for investigating the spread of herding in sub-Saharan Africa. In order to understand the meaning of these changes, we encourage additional studies of OES bead assemblages and urge researchers to report individual bead diameters, rather than averages by level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines beadwork made and worn by the Mpondomise peoples living in the district of Tsolo in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Particular focus is given to beadwork items dating from 1897 to 1934, which had mass-produced snuff boxes attached to them. Additional topics discussed include a collection of beadwork from the Englishman Frank Cornner, how Cornner's collections relate to the history of missions in Africa and St. Cuthbert's Mission near Tsolo, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

In this article, the author explores a collection of beadwork originating from Tsolo, South Africa, and currently owned by the British Museum in London, England. Particular focus is given to the meaning, aesthetics and artistic tradition behind the beaded jewelry and items of adornment in the collection. Additional topics discussed include the original donor and collector of the beadwork, the history of Anglican church missions in Tsolo, South Africa, and insights on how photography from the late 19th century relates to the collection.

In comparison to the western half of the continent, East Africa's long and rich textile history has received less attention in the literature. A wave of new scholarship is beginning to redress the balance. A number of works focus on the island of Madagascar, one of the region's oldest and most important historic centres of cloth production. Drawing special interest are the Merina weavers of the central highlands who, from at least the eighteenth century, were among the island's most prolific and innovative cloth makers. This article introduces a key Merina-authored text - thus far overlooked by scholars - with novel insights into historic highland handweaving. Entitled Things for Making Cloth, it forms part of a larger work known as the 'Ombiasy Manuscript' written in 1870, reputedly by a healer to the royal Merina court. In providing a first translation and commentary, this essay draws on museum specimens and field interviews to reveal fully the text's unique information on spinning, dyeing, weaving, decorative techniques and, above all, indigenous conceptions of cloth creation and patterning, some of which challenge conventional western understandings of Merina textile types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the beadwork of the Xhosa- and Zulu-speaking people in Africa. Significant functions of beadwork; List of books written by Joan Broster on beadwork traditions and the Xhosa people; Symbolism of the white color for Xhosa people.

The paper is based on field research conducted mainly during 1998 among the Batlokwa of the Mt Fletcher district (Eastern Cape, South Africa). It explores the largely unresearched Tlokwa material culture, as it relates to their beadwork. The investigation of Tlokwa beadwork showed that it is secondary to other aspects of the traditional material culture; it represents forms of meaning which have their roots in the making and wearing of traditional leather garments, fringed skirts, and certain materials used for body ornamentation. The major part of the paper is a detailed description of the traditional crafts of processing cow hides and certain natural fibres, so as to open, in a postscript to this paper, a discussion on developing the local economy without infringing on the meaning structure which today the beadwork of the Batlokwa represents. In this connection the intricate questions of the indigenous knowledge, the intellectual property and its protection, will be raised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]