Roman Glass Beads Found in Ancient Japanese Tomb

Roman jewellery found in ancient Japan tomb

AFP – Fri, Jun 22, 2012

Glass jewellery believed to have been made by Roman craftsmen has been found in an ancient tomb in Japan, researchers said Friday, in a sign the empire's influence may have reached the edge of Asia.

Photo By Nara National Research Institute/AFP/NARA NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Tests have revealed three glass beads discovered in the Fifth Century "Utsukushi" burial mound in Nagaoka, near Kyoto, were probably made some time between the first and the fourth century, the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties said.

The government-backed institute has recently finished analysing components of the glass beads, measuring five millimetres (0.2 inches) in diametre, with tiny fragments of gilt attached.  It found that the light yellow beads were made with natron, a chemical used to melt glass by craftsmen in the empire, which succeeded the Roman Republic in 27 BC and was ultimately ended by the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.

The beads, which have a hole through the middle, were made with a multilayering technique -- a relatively sophisticated method in which craftsmen piled up layers of glass, often sandwiching gold leaf in between.

"They are one of the oldest multilayered glass products found in Japan, and very rare accessories that were believed to be made in the Roman Empire and sent to Japan," said Tomomi Tamura, a researcher at the institute.

The Roman Empire was concentrated around the Mediterranean Sea and stretched northwards to occupy present-day England. The finding in Japan, some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from Italy, may shed some light on how far east its influence reached, Tamura said.

"It will also lead to further studies on how they could have got all the way to Japan," she said. [Oh come on, we know how they got to Japan.  Ancient trade networks!  Geez Louise!]

Evidence of Ancient Trade: Glass Bead(s) in Far East Tomb

Anhui Province, China in red.

Another fascinating discovery!  So, the tomb dates back to between 2,485 and 2,230 years ago, more or less.  Does this mean the recovered glass bead (actually, in the photo it looks like there is residue from a second similar glass bead) discovered in this tomb was already about 600 - 800 years old when it found its way to the owner of the tomb?  I mean, if it was of a type of bead made in the 10th century BCE in the Mediterranean area, that means it was made about 1000 BCE, making it about 3,000 years old!  It travelled a long way.  Wonder how many hands it passed through, and what its story was!  Does "dragonfly" signify an octagonal shaped bead?

West Asian Bead Found in Anhui's Ancient Tomb

Pub Date: 11-10-12 16:45 Source: www.cnanhui.org

A West Asian dragonfly-eye-shaped bead was found in a 2,000-odd-year Chinese tomb in Dangtu, Anhui province, indicating noblemen living in China's Warring States period (475 BC-221BC) were exposed to West Asian civilization. Excavated from the roughly 400-sqm tomb were more than 40 cultural relics, of which most were potteries and celadon wares. Judging from those possessions, the occupant is expected to be an aristocrat of Yue, one of the seven major countries in the Warring States period, archaeologists said. The most eye-catching burial object is a glass bead resembling a dragonfly eye in appearance. Such kind of jewellery was made by nomadic tribes in Mediterranean countries in the 10th century BC and believed to keep misfortune away from the wearers as well as to play the role of money, Gong Xicheng, deputy director of the provincial archaeological institute said. Much contact between nomadic tribes of West Asia and China enabled the dragonfly-eye-shaped jewellery to take off in Chinese privileged class in the Warring States period, Gong said. (By Zheng Weiling)

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I don't have time to do research on what glass beads may have been around circa 1000 BCE, and I can't be sure the bead in question is actually that old.  It may be a mistranslation.  I did find this image of some "late Roman beads" that look somewhat similar (although not the red color):

The problem is that they're "Late Roman" - which I assume means something like 3rd or 4th century CE - way too young to have been traded during the Warring States period in Chinese herstory. 

Here is a necklace made out of somewhat similr looking beads, dating from the 2nd to 4th century CE, Roman:

$5,000 for sale at Hixenbaugh.net

There are many different types of Roman (scroll down the page to get to the Roman beads) and other glass beads at Ancient Suns, Beads of Antiquity.