Indo-Pacific beads from Europe to Japan? Another fifth- to seventh-century AD global distribution — new post by me :) http://www.caitlingreen.org/2018/07/indo-pacific-beads-europe.html …pic.twitter.com/bUNYEKclEq
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Indo-Pacific beads found on Zanzibar island, Tanzania, and thought to date from around the 6th–7th centuries AD: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12520-015-0310-z …pic.twitter.com/FV95BVQHSX
For interest, here's the global distribution of 5th- to 7th-century Byzantine material:https://twitter.com/caitlinrgreen/status/844281770241675265 …
The post also discusses L4th-7thC 'Jatim' beads made in Jawa Timur/East Java, Indonesia; one was recovered in 1999 from the Early Byzantine Red Sea port of Berenike, Egypt (image=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Eyemu-_MncwC&lpg=PA138-IA8&pg=PA138-IA8#v=onepage&q&f=false …).pic.twitter.com/3p0tYFens7
A 5th- to 7th-century 'Jatim' bead made in Jawa Timur/East Java, Indonesia, from a mixture of Byzantine & Sasanian glass: https://www.academia.edu/22146727/A_study_of_mid-first_millennium_CE_Southeast_Asian_specialized_glass_beadmaking_traditions_Lankton_et_al_2008_ISEA_ …pic.twitter.com/d958vQ1AcI
An early 'Jatim' bead of c. AD 400, made in Jawa Timur/East Java out of Sasanian Persian glass & found in a Silla tomb in South Korea: https://www.academia.edu/22146727/A_study_of_mid-first_millennium_CE_Southeast_Asian_specialized_glass_beadmaking_traditions_Lankton_et_al_2008_ISEA_ …pic.twitter.com/54zUQXFOe3
By way of context for the presence of Indo-Pacific beads in 5th- to 7th-century Europe, here's the distribution of other possible Red Sea/Indian Ocean imports in 5th–7thC England (garnet=diamonds, cowries=dots, ivory rings=squares, and amethyst=stars): http://www.caitlingreen.org/2018/07/indo-pacific-beads-europe.html …pic.twitter.com/LqebiULUEt
For some examples of early medieval gold polychrome jewellery featuring Indian/Sri Lankan garnets, demonstrating the widespread use of this style in the 5th—7thC, see this thread, https://twitter.com/caitlinrgreen/status/894150359169585152 …, and https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thomas_Calligaro2/publication/280954735_Contribution_a_l%27etude_des_grenats_merovingiens_Basilique_de_Saint-Denis_et_autres_collections_du_musee_d%27Archeologie_nationale_diverses_collections_publiques_et_objets_de_fouilles_recentes_Nouvelles_/links/5630707e08ae432a022c3fda/Contribution-a-letude-des-grenats-merovingiens-Basilique-de-Saint-Denis-et-autres-collections-du-musee-dArcheologie-nationale-diverses-collections-publiques-et-objets-de-fouilles-recentes-Nouvelles-a.pdf …
The perhaps late 6th-century Sutton Hoo gold & garnet cloisonné shoulder clasps, w/ hidden intertwined boars with curly tails: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=86877&partId=1 …pic.twitter.com/tHACcBJgYH
The lovely 7th-century garnet cloisonné brooch from Wijnaldum, the Netherlands, recently confirmed to have been made with Indian garnets from Rajasthan: http://www.redbot.frl/blog/de-fibula-van-wijnaldum-digitaal-op-archeologie-frl/ …pic.twitter.com/SjwSFniRCn
A cowrie shell from the Red Sea/Indian Ocean, found in a 7th-century grave at Aldeburgh, Suffolk.pic.twitter.com/PkD6JHgyNK
A probable elephant ivory ring from an early Anglo-Saxon bag, found at Ruskington, Lincolnshire; well over 100 are known from England and such rings were cut from the base of tusk of an African savannah elephant.pic.twitter.com/fzSYh8xf2t
The fifth- or sixth-century AD Escrick Ring, found in Yorkshire, set with a central cabochon sapphire gem probably from Sri Lanka: https://www.medieval.eu/the-esrick-ring/ …pic.twitter.com/RvUpzAadeC
Seal matrix of Alaric II, King of Visigoths, 484–507 — sapphire intaglio in 16th-century gold ring: http://www.kornbluthphoto.com/Alaric.html pic.twitter.com/KHgSrlFHzo
For interest, the distribution of Byzantine pottery (black) and coins (red) in 5th- to 7th-century Britain; the Indo-Pacific beads in Europe presumably came via a Byzantine Red Sea port (e.g. 51% of the beads found at the port of Berenike, Egypt, were Indo-Pacific).pic.twitter.com/aY8CYUEO38
Indo-Pacific and other beads found in the Late Antique trash dump trench BE10-59 at Berenike, Egypt: http://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/RedSea/Berenike-Sidebotham-Sahara%2021-2010.pdf …pic.twitter.com/bQxNsIKWTF
Pepper from India found in a 5th-century AD context at the Early Byzantine port of Berenike, Egypt: http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Pipe_nig.html …pic.twitter.com/poWxfRN1oj
A Romano-British spice/pepper container in the shape of an ibex from the 5th-century AD Hoxne Hoard found in Suffolk, on display in the Indo-Roman trade section of the Hotung Gallery, British Museum; photo & fascinating article by @SushmaJansari here: http://thewonderhouse.co.uk/behind-the-scenes-at-the-british-museum-indo-roman-trade-in-the-hotung-gallery … :)pic.twitter.com/3L7XSOmw9j
The 'Empress' pepper pot from the 5th-century Romano-British Hoxne Hoard, found in Suffolk; used for dispensing pepper or another spice at the dining table: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1362638&partId=1 …pic.twitter.com/ScxU7Uj267
Worth noting that pepper from India continued to be available in NW Europe in the 7th/8th centuries e.g. Chlothar III granted an annual rent of 30 pounds of pepper to Corbie monastery (N. France) in the mid-7thC, and Bede's personal possessions incl pepper when he died in 735 AD.pic.twitter.com/dn7Y03nbH8
Interestingly, the same document concerning the monastery of Corbie in northern France (reconfirmed by Chilperic II in 716) also mentions an annual quantity of 2 pounds of cloves, which were only grown in Indonesia—see https://twitter.com/siwaratrikalpa/status/1007600535443263488 … :)
One interesting feature of the distribution of Indo-Pacific beads is the sheer number found at both extremities of Eurasia — they occur in their thousands and on a significant number of sites in both Late Yayoi/Kofun Japan and Late Antique western Europe...pic.twitter.com/yC8egiHNXj
(Incidentally, the above maps are from http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935413-e-46 … & https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352226716300095 …; note, the finds of Indo-Pacific beads from Kofun Japan are even more numerous than those from the Yayoi period).
Some Indo-Pacific beads found in Japan; for more on such finds, see 'The Far East, Southeast and South Asia: Indo-Pacific Beads from Yayoi Tombs as Indicators of Early Maritime Exchange', by Oga Katsuhiko & Sunil Gupta — https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02666030.2000.9628581?needAccess=true …pic.twitter.com/FvFHQkDR8m
Of course, not just Indo-Pacific beads found in Kofun Japan; here's a Roman glass bead found in the early 5th-century AD Utsukushi no.1 burial mound in Nagaoka-kyo, Japan: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/17691 pic.twitter.com/os8IhYwyAO
Returning to the far west of Eurasia, here's an excellent paper on Red Sea/Indian Ocean trade with western Europe and England in the 5th–7thC focusing on elephant ivory rings: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uvN7DgAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA131#v=onepage&q&f=false …pic.twitter.com/LP3HlDXnS1
Well over 100 elephant ivory rings—cut from the base of a tusk of an African savannah elephant—are known from 5th- to 7th-century England alone, with many more known from continental cemeteries; the latter are thought to reflect 'a heavy inflow of the material' in the 5th–7thC.pic.twitter.com/9UnWvooSv2
The distribution of Red Sea/Indian Ocean cowrie shells in 6th- to 7th-century NW Europe; like ivory rings, they are found in substantial quantities and over a large geographical range: https://www.reading.ac.uk/web/files/GCMS/RMS-2006-07_J._Drauschke,_%27Byzantine%27_and_%27oriental%27_imports_in_the_Merovingian_Empire.pdf …pic.twitter.com/VLK6nU3Gy8
Fwiw, Drauschke notes for NW Europe as a whole that Red Sea/Indian Ocean goods are not only found in large+increasing quantities in the 6th- to 7th-centuries, but are also not 'components only of high-status graves', esp. c.570–680, a point Hills likewise makes for ivory rings…
Importantly, similar points can be made re: the Indo-Pacific beads found in their thousands in early medieval Europe, which occur in graves presenting 'varying “degrees of richness”. The beads thus do not appear to be the prerogative of a privileged few': https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352226716300095 …pic.twitter.com/wL0jTLxVqd
Two more imported elephant ivory rings found in Anglo-Saxon graves, from Sleaford (Lincolnshire) and Dover (Kent): http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=96898&partId=1 … & http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?assetId=755613001&objectId=1341153&partId=1 …pic.twitter.com/h5HL1R3PZB
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