Heirloom beads from Borneo Many cultures around the world have an special bond with beads. It happened, for example, with glass beads in West Africa, when the first regular boats arrived from Europe in the 15th century. Other cultures have an specific interest in other kind of beads, like carnelian gemstone in the Middle East or turquoise in the Arabian peninsula. In Borneo, glass beads still hold significant cultural and historical importance, although most beads were and are imports, as there was never a significant local glassmaking industry. Cave dwellers in Borneo crafted beads from shell, bone, and teeth, as it has been researched from archaeological sites. But the earliest import beads around Southeast Asia originated in [...]