A Blue Bead from Blue Bead Hole, Statia

Let’s take out our magnifying glass and look up close at this beauteously blue bead. This bead may be small, but it has become the symbol of an entire island: the Dutch Caribbean St. Eustatius, also known as the Historic Gem. It is small and not very well-known among Caribbean holliday goers today, but the friendly island features some top-notch ecological attractions, such as the Quill volcano and lots of good diving. One of the things you will see underwater are what remains of Statia as a global economic center. Statia, in the mid-18th century also known as the Golden Rock, was a major port, not only forthe Caribbean but for the world, around the mid-18th century.

Somehow blue beads have become synonymous with this history. How did this happen? Why did beads like this become a marker of wealth? Why can they be found in their thousands in a place called Blue Bead Hole? Join Alice, Angus and their first ever podcast guest, Joost Morsink, to learn about this and much more in this week’s episode of “A History of the Caribbean in 100 Objects!”

To look at while you listen to us:

One of Joost’s blue beads from Blue Bead Hole

Two other beads from Blue Bead Hole (photo courtesy of Joost Morsink)

A blue bead in its “natural habitat”: Blue Bead Hole (photo courtesy of Jerry Day)

Catch of the day after a dive at Blue Bead Hole (photo courtesy of Jerry Day)

Some further information:

• The website of the St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research is a great resource for more information. Get in touch with about fieldwork and research opportunities!
• Grant Gilmore III, previously the island archaeologist of Statia, has several papers and book chapters on the archaeology and history of the Golden Rock, among which a paper on blue beads.
• Life on a Rock: A great blog about Statian society and culture today and in the past.
• Find out more about the opportunities for (historical) tourism on Statia at statiatourism.com.
  • Want to dive Blue Hole Bead for yourself: check out this page.

Dutch Pentagons from the National Museum in Accra, Ghana (photo courtesy of Ryan Espersen)

Update: After this episode was released Ryan Espersen, director of SABARC, contacted us with the following information:

“Hey! I heard the blue bead podcast. When I was in Accra, Ghana I went to a bead museum and I saw two whole necklaces of the blue beads there. It turns out that it was a Dutch slave trade bead rather than a bead simply destined for St. Eustatius. Those that made it to Statia would have been the minority.

The connection of the beads with Statia (rather than another Dutch trade/slave trading island like Curaçao) probably lies with ships that traded exclusively or mostly with Statia during the transatlantic slave trade. There was a ship from a 1744 shipping list (Dutch Nat. Archives 1.05.01.02 #1187) named the ‘Statiaans Vriendschap’ that was bound to Vlissingen as an example.”

Thanks for this, Ryan!

Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter @theshoresoftime about what you think of the podcast and how we can improve the way we  share the stories of the Caribbean and its objects.

We’ll talk to you next time, and remember: In this great future you can’t forget your past!

Acknowledgements: This podcast was made possible thanks to financial support by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Alice is employed by University of Leicester’s School of Ancient History and Archaeology and Angus works at Stanford University’s Archaeology Center. Joost Morsink is a graduate from Leiden University and the University of Florida (Gainesville). He currently works at SEARCH.