Research on Borneo’s heirloom beads has so far largely focused on the Dayak tribes of Sarawak in Borneo’s north. To expand the study area, the author has undertaken fieldwork in both Sarawak and Kalimantan and focused on Borneo’s links with regional and international trade routes along which its heirloom beads traveled. A further area of research has been British and Dutch colonial literature and collections of heirloom beads outside Borneo.