Blog

Ever since we became settled farmers about 12,000 years ago, we have been able to collect and save things like never before. This has given rise to all sorts of ways to show off one's wealth. In today's society, the sports car is a good example of one of the ways you show off your wealth. The sports car is just as inconsequential as a glass bead to one's survival, yet we collect them whenever we have some spare cash.

The making of glass beads and the tools used have not changed much in a thousand years, of course modern versions of them are used but the function has remained the same. The craftsman needs a small furnace and a bellows to achieve temperatures of over 1000 ℃. A "dorn" is a round metal rod around which the hot glass can be wrapped or pulled over, there are archaeological finds from Helgö of mandrels with handles. The finds made on mandrels often have a conical tip for easier removal of the finished pearl.