Includes bibliographical references and index.

Gender in the making, trading and uses of beads. An introductory essay / Lidia D. Sciama -- Out of women's hands: notes on Venetian glass beads, female labour and international trades / Francesca Trivellato -- Gender in African beadwork: an overview / Margret Carey -- Beaded and bedecked Kalabari of Nigeria / Joanne B. Eicher -- Lantana beads: gender issues in their production and use / Ann O'Hear -- A short history of rosaries in the Andes / Penny Dransart -- Why do they like red? Beads, ethnicity and gender in Ecuador / Lynn A. Meisch -- African American jewellery before the Civil War / Helen Bradley Foster -- Beads and breasts: the negotiation of gender roles and power at New Orleans Mardi Gras / Laurie A. Wilkie -- Beads, prestige and life among the Kelabit of Sarawak, East Malaysia / Monica Janowski -- Greek beads of the Mycenaean period (ca 1650-1100 BC): the age of the heroines of Greek tradition and mythology / Helen Hughes-Brock -- An archaeological investigation into ancient Chinese beads / Cecilia Braghin -- What beads mean to craft producers supported by Oxfam / Carol Wills -- Don't get your neckless in a twist! Often-used specialist bead terms and their definitions for researchers and collectors / Stefany Tomalin.