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Articles

Vol. 20 (2008)

Glass Beads from the Belbek IV Cemetery, Southwestern Crimea

Submitted
January 27, 2025
Published
2008-01-01

Abstract

Situated in the southwestern region of the Crimea, the Belbek IV cemetery was utilized for much of the first three centuries of the common era. A comparison of the morphological and technological characteristics of a select sample of the recovered glass beads has provided clues concerning their origins; the majority of the beads seem to have been manufactured in accordance with Syrian glassmaking traditions, a quarter belong to the Egyptian school of glassblowing, while just a little over one per cent were manufactured in Roman workshops. Judging from their burial contexts, it appears that beads in Late Scythian costume were used as buttons, amulets, and pendants, as well as in the preparation of necklaces and embroidery.