Indigenous Technology in Traditional Bead Craft in Ghana : Aspects of Gender and Style

Bauxite bead production at Akyem Abompe in the Eastern Region of Ghana is an occupational specialization of the community in addition to farming and other economic activities. This book takes a look at bauxite bead production as an indigenous craft practiced in a milieu of gender dynamics and indigenous technology transmitted across generations. Drawing on evidences, the book explored aspects of gender in the discovery of bauxite beads, access to local bauxite mines, the process and technique of bead production, usage and style. As an indigenous community craft in which gender is a critical aspect of the dynamic relationships in production processes, gender also informs the design, usage and consequently aspects of form and style.