Description

Ancient faience and Islamic period glass beads with a rich burial patina and surface iridescence.
Faience, with likely origins in Egypt, is a glazed non-clay ceramic material, with quartz as its main component.
Beads were traded along the ancient caravan routes that crossed the desert towns of Djenne, Gao and Timbuktu.
Some surface pitting, normal for beads of such great age.
Strand of 28 beads, temporary stringing on nylon.
Age: 1200-1600 CE
Collected in Mali.

Length: 8mm to 22mm
Width: 6mm to 12mm
Strand: 35 cm

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