Native Americans throughout the Amazon basin have long used the seeds and nuts of a variety of trees and plants make necklaces, bracelets and other jewelry. This lot includes seeds from an Amazonian climbing vine (Mucuna sp.) called ojo de vaca (cow's eye), hand-drilled for beading by Peruvian crafts people.
Ojo de vaca and other Mucuna varieties are known as "sea beans." They are drift seeds which are spread through rivers and oceans. They have a sandwich appearance, with a black band flanked by lighter bands between brown caps, leading to the nickname "hamburger seed."
In Peru, beads made from these pods are used as pendants or medalions. They are thought to bring luck to their wearers. There are variations in size from one bead to the next. In general, each is about 3 x 3.5 cm (1 1/8 x 1 1/4 in.) in diameter and 1.5 cm (1/2 in.) thick. The holes are about 1 mm in diameter.
