Maasai Masai woman with traditional form of adornment including beads and beading piercing and stretching of earlobes and hats

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Maasai woman with traditional form of adornment including beads and beading piercing and stretching of earlobes and hats Beadworking, done by women, has a long history among the Maasai, who articulate their identity and position in society through body ornaments and body painting. Before contact with Europeans beads were produced mostly from local raw materials. White beads were made from clay, shells, ivory, or bone. Black and blue beads were made from iron, charcoal, seeds, clay, or horn. Red beads came from seeds, woods, gourds, bone, ivory, copper, or brass. When late in the nineteenth century, great quantities of brightly colored European glass beads arrived in East Africa, beadworkers replaced the older beads with the new materials and began to use more elaborate color schemes. Currently, dense, opaque glass beads with no surface decoration and a naturally smooth finish are preferred.[95]

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Size: 4367px × 2911px
Location: Ndutu Tanzania East Africa
Photo credit: © Richard Tadman / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: adornments, beads, colorful, colourful, decoration, earlobes, glass, maasai, masai, ornaments, piercing, stretching, woman, women