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Early humans were extremely efficient and frugal. They butchered their own animals and used every part of the animal that they could, including the meat for dinner, the hide for clothing, shoes, and containers, the fat for suet and tallow and the horns and bones for tools and ornaments. Bone was one of the first things early humans used for personal ornament. As a durable material, bone was hard  enough to wear well, and soft enough to be worked with nearly any hard tool. Early humans worked bone and horn into a remarkable variety of beads and jewelry by using stone tools, like the sharp edge of a stone as a saw, and a hard piece of slate or sandstone as a grinding surface.
Today bone beads are a cottage industry in Indonesia, where individual craftsmen and women make bone beads for the world market. Most modern bone beads are made from cow or sheep or camel bones and are a by-product of the food industry. Modern bead makers have the advantage of steel tools and power machinery. This makes bone beads both abundant an inexpensive.
Processing raw bone is a simple but dangerous process because on the chemicals involved. Bones are first cleaned with soapy water and a stiff brush to remove all of the meat, gristle and ligaments. Then the bones are boiled in a dilute solution of hydrochloric or sulfuric acid, until the bones lose their greasy  texture. The bones are then rinsed thoroughly and dried. Next the bones are whitened in a dilute solution of bleach, which also removes the last of the protein gelatin, which can rot and cause an unpleasant odor. The last step is to rinse the bones in clear water and dry them thoroughly for several days.
After the bones are processed they are cut in small workable pieces and carved into the shapes; small pierced carvings, round and oblong beads, pendants and all kinds of other shapes. After shaping and carving the beads surface treatments can be applied. The bone beads can be burned, dyed, stained and even painted. |
