400-year-old beads show ‘extensive reach’ of Native American trade networks, study says

European glass beads reached parts of North America decades before the arrival of European explorers, new research reveals.

The discovery indicates vast indigenous trade networks — which helped facilitate transatlantic commerce — predated European colonization.

The findings, which resulted from an analysis of centuries-old beads, were published on June 6 in the journal Antiquity.

Manufactured by artisans throughout Europe, glass beads were valued by indigenous groups in North America during the 17th century.

“People would have used (them) on clothing and other personal items, perhaps combined with adornments of other materials like shell, bone or stone,” researchers said.

The beads also played a key role in the establishment of the fur trade on the continent.

By studying the chemical qualities of about 1,000 17th century glass beads, the researchers were able to track down their provenance.

They narrowed their focus to beads that passed through the Great Lakes region between 1600 and 1660.

Their analysis revealed that beads reached the region “via down-the-line exchanges, decades prior to French explorers, missionaries and traders, who were infrequent visitors until the 1670s,” researchers said.

This beads appear to have changed hands between various indigenous groups, including the Wendat and the Anishinaabe, according to a University of Wisconsin news release.

The findings show “connections to broader interregional exchange systems” that attest ”to the extensive reach of Indigenous exchange networks prior to European arrivals.”

This story was originally published June 11, 2024 at 3:55 PM with the headline "400-year-old beads show ‘extensive reach’ of Native American trade networks, study says."