Cave 'Pearls'

[Valeria101]

Some folks call them that - 'cave pearls'. They are calcite concretions that somehow are lucky enough to form as free-floating, rotating objects in a saturated solution and end up round (REF (http://www.scsc.k12.ar.us/ChadickD/cave_formations.htm)). Sometimes perfectly so! It can happen that at some point the round concretions settle down and become embedded in more calcite growth, their shapes dulled and distorted.

Anyhow, these things are rather unusual and quite spectacular to see in their original environment (http://www.cumberlandadventures.com/cave/wolf.html). The reaction is usually 'wow' !

Finding THIS (http://gemwow.com/gemdetail/102_1007_608/Calcite__Egg__Aggregate.aspx) listed today reminded those things.
http://gemwow.com/Product/Photos/002/p00608_1.jpg

Have seen my fair share of these during caving stints back in college vacations... Should have been wise enough to take pictures, I guess :o

Below is a more typical array of small 'cave pearls'.
http://www.cumberlandadventures.com/cave/cavejpg/wolf/DCP03057.JPG

Who says that bits of info have to be relevant to be fun! :p

[jshepherd]

Now a strand of those would be a unique addition to any pearl collection.

This pool of cave 'pearls' is something else.

http://www.cumberlandadventures.com/cave/cavejpg/wolf/DCP03055.JPG

[GemGeek]

How cool. Another item for our pearl trivia quiz:)

[Valeria101]

Hope no one gets the idea of a cave pearl strand!

Although a good number of caves have some such formations, it would be a pitty to 'harvest'. It takes centuries and rather idiosincratic conditions for these things to happen. Taken out of the water they are normal white pebbles. Only a section and magnification revels concentric layers, sometimes of different shades - like nacre layers in pearls :cool: (similar mechanical process, methinks).

[jshepherd]

Seriously, I feel like we should have a section of this Website called Valeria101's links. How you come up with the things you do always amazes me.

[GemGeek]

Seriously, I feel like we should have a section of this Website called Valeria101's links. How you come up with the things you do always amazes me.

I agree. Valeria101 keeps surprising me with things I had no idea existed. My ultimate goal is to keep learning until the day I die. If I hang around here, that won't be a problem. :)

Thanks,
Blaire

[knotty panda]

Wasn't Wilma Flintstone the first woman to make Cave Pearls fashionable? I call Valeria my own "little internet search engine."

[GemGeek]

Wasn't Wilma Flintstone the first woman to make Cave Pearls fashionable? I call Valeria my own "little internet search engine."

You are TOO funny:) Love the picture -- just think how heavy they would be if you translated that to our size in a six pearl necklace!

Cheers,
Blaire

[Valeria101]

... just think how heavy they would be if you translated that to our size in a six pearl necklace!



Gee! Those 'pearls' should be about 5cm long! :o ... allowing for uber-large knots/spacers and clasp.

I doubt I'd look as nice as Wilma wearing such monster beads, pearls or no pearls :rolleyes: Can't imagine anyone pulling that sort of thing off, actually. Can you?

[purepearls]

Perhaps if you had a super, super skinny neck!

[Valeria101]

Perhaps if you had a super, super skinny neck!

That too... but that doesn't mean I've got the math right in the previous post either, LOL!

Lets see... neckline is about 35cm (a tight choker length, othing really 'choking' that is). And the beads being large, the length of the strand will end up larger than that to accomodate their diameter. That would give 7.75 cm for bead length (77.5mm x 38.75mm) :eek: assuming 7 beads and a clasp of similar size or 8 claspless beads .... so that three show in a 2D picture on any side of the becklace, like in Wilma's picture. Now, that's assuming a 3D 'Wilma', a 2D cartoon charcater would actually get away with just 3 beads ;) Not exactly wearable in the real world. Unless those were balls of feathers or something! :o

[salem]

Man, for pearls like that, does anyone else think Fred was drastically overpaid?:D

[Valeria101]

Hm... not if they were cave pearls (i.e. pebbles, appropriately so), he wasn't !

More seriously, what is the earliest record of pearl use for jewelry? I have seen several strands of natural pearls unearthed while excavating Babylon etc. but haven't taken notes of their dating to keep track. They were in reasonably wearable state too (gray, somewhat different sort of iridescence then you'd expect from 'fresh' pearls, but nothing to frown upon).

[Caitlin]

Hi Ana
Do ask me for a source, but I remember hearing of a strand that is 4,000 years old. I wonder if anyone else remembers that and can guide us to the source?

[knotty panda]

Valeria: How could pearls have been worn prior to a way of drilling them? I can't imagine a way to afix a pearl to anything before having a drill hole to mount it to metal or string. Any thoughts? Were they used as currency? Well, yes, they were, but I mean something more tangible as to value other than bead trading?

No, Salem, I don't think Fred was overpaid. Dinosaur wrangling in quarries in those days was arduous work. He just made it look easy :)

[Caitlin]

How long has mankind has the bow and arrow?

I know that artisans in the prehistoric southwest (far away from any ocean) were drilling seashells with a stick twisted in a bow, long before electricity. Those original heishi have amazingly small holes.

Actually, so were South Americans so it is just a matter of tracing the drilling technology back.

[knotty panda]

I'm talking about before drilling came along, how would they have been worn.

[Caitlin]

First you'd have to have an idea how far back they could drill; drilling could be as old as the pleistocene. The oldest pearls found so far were drilled...... Carved MOP was found in Egypt as far back as 4,500 BC Pearl bearing mollusks were used by Egyptians as early as the 4th millenium, BC - Egyptians do not seem tohave used perls much (Strack p 17)

Read the pages on the Yaqui on Douglas' website. When the Yaquis met the Spaniards the chief was covered with pearls and MOP carvings. The application of same would have been done with pre-Conquest techniques.

Sounds like you have hit on a good project for a PhD

[Valeria101]

Valeria: How could pearls have been worn prior to a way of drilling them?


As if I knew when the first bow-drill came about! 'Afraid that bit of info is missing too...

Aparently, no drills used on the oldest beads (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5099104.stm).

We'd need an antropologist on board! ;)

[Caitlin]

Hi Ana
Good find and probably the answer to knotty's question...
1st answer: A pearl (or other object) was worn in a shell to hold it....
just turn the one on the right upside down, It is perfect for holding a tiny tresure, like a pearl.

2nd answer: they glued it to something, like a shell. I am pretty sure they had glue from sap, eggs, or horns and hooves.....

The flint instrument used to make holes was probably smaller and more pointy. The article indicates it was a flint tool similar to the one shown and chips often come off the larger tool that are quite sharp and pointy.

Just a guess but coincidently my BA is in Anthropology.....



Here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3629559.stm) is a similar article with more pictures and similar shell beads from Africa.

I just googled "oldest pearls" and my article on the pearl guide forum came up first. I think I will have to revise it. There have been several earlier discoveries published since I wrote that.....

OK now what kind of thread did they use? And what kind of knots?

[Valeria101]

Aren't kots somewhat recent practice ? (decades old)

An article cited on a nother thread here cites the oldest record of pearls in jewelry. Coincidence ? :)

LINK (http://www.gulfweekly.com/article.asp?Sn=4694&Article=16616)

"The National Museum of Bahrain exhibits a pearl that was found in a burial ground dating back to around 2000 BC ... probably the first evidence of pearl jewellery. More evidence of the brilliance of the gem is seen at the Louvre Museum in Paris which exhibits a pearl necklace dating back to 600BC."

The ones I saw in Berlin were more recent; around 300 BC. They were spndly rice shaped, slightly larger than the fattest rice seed you might imagine, with relatively large, funnel shaped holes typical for the early unstable drills. Obviusly all necklaces are redesigned using whatever cmponents within reasonable distance in the ground, so... who knows how they might have been strung originally. Those larger holes make me think of some serious ancient beading thread!

[Caitlin]

Interesting question, by which you I think you mean knotting pearls is decades old. You saying that it started in the 20th century?

Maybe our favorite historical recreator has an opinion on that. Frankly, I am surprised. I am having trouble locating my copy of the Book of the Pearl by G F Kunz which has hundreds of pictures- and maybe some text on the subject.

As for the thread used in the 95,000 year old "drilled" (I use the tern loosely) shells mentioned in one of the above links, I think it is just a matter of time before the microscopic scratchings will be identified by plant source.... Spinning thread and cord is a very ancient craft.

The article on Bahrain ancient jewelry is no coincidence, I found it through your link above......Actual pearl diving in Bahrain was recorded as early as 4,000 BC- it's in the last link you posted.

[Ashley]

Hi Caitlin,

I would agree with you on the plant matter- hemp has been in use for thousands of years (cultivated intentionally and as a wild herb) as an organic thread for jewelry, along with other things. I googled the history of hemp and it turns out the plant has been intentionally cultivated as long ago as 8000BC

[Caitlin]

The spinning of hemp outdates that of wool and cotton from domestic plants or animals for sure. It is a weed that used to grow everywhere, It is extemely easy to get the fiber mashed and spun, it will give a stronger more rot-free rope than anything else ever has, and it will spin as fine as linen (well almost) and clothing made form hemp fabric will last generations of wear.
(Wouldn't you love some hemp Levis? - I love espadrilles and and buy them from a basque outfit in France every year.......The sisal soles give in to water and fray in minutes. I wish I could get espadrilles made from hemp fabric on the tops and hempen woven soles)

I would guess it as one of the earliest spun plants- it is just too obvious!

Here (http://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?p=17451#post17451) is a thread on the ancient history of thread that arose out of this discussion

[Ashley]

Here's another article on the history, use and decline of hemp that I found highly interesting http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0199/et0199s11.html

I'm currently looking for more references to pearl jewelry utilized by early humans (although I don't have a BA in Anthropology, I took alot of Archaeology courses in college, too :D )- although another idea on the early "threads" to use in knotting jewelry would be hair (human and animals) and also thin strips of leather cleaned, dried and dyed using organic substances into bright colors.

[Caitlin]

Do I detect your degree is in Art of some kind?. You seem to have your history down. So glad to have several enthusiasts interested in this line of research and look forward to lots of good posts.

[Ashley]

Si senora, a degree in Fine Art- Illustration and Design to be precise, a Minor in English although I never have time to write the short stories like I used to...these days it's informative articles on pearls lol.

Although I do have a WIDE range of interests (doesn't everybody?) that definitely included History, Archaeology, Astronomy, Gemology... anything that has the element of beauty I am addicted to. :p