Magia ornamentu / Galeria / “A thousand flowers” on a bead from Southern Norway
“A thousand flowers” on a bead from Southern Norway
Chronology:
Iron age
Location:
Unknown farm, Egersund, Rogaland.
Object type:
Bead
Material:
Glass
Technology:
CT scan by J Kimball, Colour by S van Riel
Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, Norway
This small and colourful bead, no longer than 2 cm, came to the museum already at the end of the 1800. Why and by whom, we do not know. We do know that it was found together with four other beads, some of them now destroyed.
In the greater scheme of things, it might go unnoticed, not being able to compare it selves with elaborate fibulas and adorned swords. But if you do take a closer look, you can spot many different colours in a certain pattern, which is why this type of beads are called mosaic beads. The productions technique is called Millefiori which in Italian means a thousand flowers. Take a look at the model and see if you can learn something about how these beads carefully were made, layer by layer.
Literature:
- Callmer, J. 1977: Trade beads and bead trade in Scandinavia ca 800-1000 AD. Acta Archaeologica Lundensia. 4:11.
- https://www.unimus.no/portal/#/things/55db5848-1c60-4468-8b7a-cc324c279eac