A&S 50 Challenge: 50 Period Bead Patterns
My personal challenge as part of the A&S 50 project has been to identify and recreate 50 different period glass bead designs. So far, I'm more than halfway there, but this is the first documentation I've posted online.
Pattern Number Description Culture Period Citation and/or more information 1 Black base bead with red, yellow, or white zigzag pattern and yellow ends Germanic (Frankish); possible for Anglo-Saxon c400AD - 850AD (?) Based from a Frankish glass bead found at Dunadd, Argyll. (Artifact # RLS 000-000-582-336-C in the collections of the National Museum, Scotland.) 2 Green bead with blue and white dots Norse, Celtic 9th century Johan Callmer designates this type as O052. (Johan Callmer, Trade Beads and the Bead Trade in Scandinavia, ca. 800-1000 AD. Lund: 1977.) 3 Red or brown beads with red/brown, white, and blue layered dots Norse c885-915AD Johan Callmer designates this type as B310. 4 Blue beads with layered blue and white dots. Celtic, Norse, other cultures (common pattern) Bronze Age - Early Medieval Common style for many cultures and eras. Some of the most complex were produced by the Chinese during the warring states era (476-221 BC). 5 Blue beads with blue and white twist Celtic, Norse, Roman, Anglo-Saxon Iron Age through early medieval Based on designs from Johan Callmer's bead charts, also bead SF4884 (Portable Antiquities Scheme, UK), found in Suffolk, England. 6 Lobed beads done in clear glass, colored glass, or faience Roman, Norse, Egyptian (also seen in many other cultures) Bronze Age - Early Medieval The lobed or melon bead is one of the most common styles for many cultures and eras. 7 Reddish bead with a white wave pattern connected to blue and white dots. Norse 790-820AD Johan Callmer designates this type as B321 in his study of Scandinavian trade beads. 8 Yellow bead with blue dots Celtic, Norse, other cultures (common pattern) 4th century BC - c1000AD This pattern first shows up with the Phoenicians but also appears in many other cultures throughout early SCA period. They are especially common in Hallstadt and La Tene sites. 9 White bead with double wave pattern and dots in the middles of where the lines intersect. Germanic, Gaulish, Anglo-Saxon Circa 6th - 7th centuries When this pattern is found with green waves, typically the archaeologist is looking at the results of a Norfolk or Suffolk glassworker’s attempt to copy the blue-waved version popular in the Rhineland, northern France, and the Netherlands during the 6th - 7th centuries. Some of the blue-waved version are known to have come from a glassworks near Leiden around 600AD. Many were imported into England, where they have been found concentrated in the southern counties and as far north as Yorkshire. Margaret Guido calls these styles type 3iiic and 3iiid. (Guido, Margaret. Glass Beads of Anglo-Saxon England. Rochester, NY: Boydell Press: 1999. Pages 32-33.) See also Portable Antiquities Scheme artifacts # LIN-D76CE0 (bead with green waves) and NMS-B4D056 (bead with blue waves) 10 Blue/turquoise bead with large yellow eye and blue dots Roman, Romano-British, Romano-Germanic, Irish 4th century BC - c7th century AD Originally produced on the Continent in 4th C BC; imported to Britain via Roman occupation. Style was reintroduced by Irish glassworkers after 500AD. Garrow Tor style. (Guido 1978: 62)
There's the first ten. I just need to clean up the documentation for the next ~30 patterns, and then get pictures of the new ones I did the other day...
Pattern Number Description Culture Period Citation and/or more information 1 Black base bead with red, yellow, or white zigzag pattern and yellow ends Germanic (Frankish); possible for Anglo-Saxon c400AD - 850AD (?) Based from a Frankish glass bead found at Dunadd, Argyll. (Artifact # RLS 000-000-582-336-C in the collections of the National Museum, Scotland.) 2 Green bead with blue and white dots Norse, Celtic 9th century Johan Callmer designates this type as O052. (Johan Callmer, Trade Beads and the Bead Trade in Scandinavia, ca. 800-1000 AD. Lund: 1977.) 3 Red or brown beads with red/brown, white, and blue layered dots Norse c885-915AD Johan Callmer designates this type as B310. 4 Blue beads with layered blue and white dots. Celtic, Norse, other cultures (common pattern) Bronze Age - Early Medieval Common style for many cultures and eras. Some of the most complex were produced by the Chinese during the warring states era (476-221 BC). 5 Blue beads with blue and white twist Celtic, Norse, Roman, Anglo-Saxon Iron Age through early medieval Based on designs from Johan Callmer's bead charts, also bead SF4884 (Portable Antiquities Scheme, UK), found in Suffolk, England. 6 Lobed beads done in clear glass, colored glass, or faience Roman, Norse, Egyptian (also seen in many other cultures) Bronze Age - Early Medieval The lobed or melon bead is one of the most common styles for many cultures and eras. 7 Reddish bead with a white wave pattern connected to blue and white dots. Norse 790-820AD Johan Callmer designates this type as B321 in his study of Scandinavian trade beads. 8 Yellow bead with blue dots Celtic, Norse, other cultures (common pattern) 4th century BC - c1000AD This pattern first shows up with the Phoenicians but also appears in many other cultures throughout early SCA period. They are especially common in Hallstadt and La Tene sites. 9 White bead with double wave pattern and dots in the middles of where the lines intersect. Germanic, Gaulish, Anglo-Saxon Circa 6th - 7th centuries When this pattern is found with green waves, typically the archaeologist is looking at the results of a Norfolk or Suffolk glassworker’s attempt to copy the blue-waved version popular in the Rhineland, northern France, and the Netherlands during the 6th - 7th centuries. Some of the blue-waved version are known to have come from a glassworks near Leiden around 600AD. Many were imported into England, where they have been found concentrated in the southern counties and as far north as Yorkshire. Margaret Guido calls these styles type 3iiic and 3iiid. (Guido, Margaret. Glass Beads of Anglo-Saxon England. Rochester, NY: Boydell Press: 1999. Pages 32-33.) See also Portable Antiquities Scheme artifacts # LIN-D76CE0 (bead with green waves) and NMS-B4D056 (bead with blue waves) 10 Blue/turquoise bead with large yellow eye and blue dots Roman, Romano-British, Romano-Germanic, Irish 4th century BC - c7th century AD Originally produced on the Continent in 4th C BC; imported to Britain via Roman occupation. Style was reintroduced by Irish glassworkers after 500AD. Garrow Tor style. (Guido 1978: 62)
There's the first ten. I just need to clean up the documentation for the next ~30 patterns, and then get pictures of the new ones I did the other day...