Small disk beads, most of which were probably made from the wall sections of large univalves, comprise approximately 90% of the shell ornaments from the Fredricks site. Correspondingly, small white beads also comprise about 90% of all glass beads at the site. Apparently there was a continuous use and demand for this general bead form (first shell and then of glass and shell) during the Late Prehistoric and Historic periods.
Many of the Fredricks site disks were drilled or punched with a small cylindrical object, presumably a metal nail, needle, or awl. The use of metal tools was suggested by the sharp sides of the bead holes as opposed to the hourglass concavity present on beads which had been slowly drilled from both sides. Also, a few of the Fredricks site beads revealed a larger, seemingly "unfinished" form. Several also revealed a triangular- or quadrangular-shaped hole, which suggested they were not drilled but driven through by a very hard object, again a sign of the use of metal tools.
