Journal of Archaeological Science 54 (2015) 168e181

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Journal of Archaeological Science

journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas

Between Egypt, Mesopotamia and Scandinavia: Late Bronze Age glass

beads found in Denmark
Jeanette Varberg a, *, Bernard Gratuze b, Flemming Kaul c
a
Moesgaard Museum, DK-8270 Hjbjerg, Denmark
b
IRAMAT-CEB, UMR5060, CNRS/Univ. Orleans, Orleans, France
c
National Museum of Denmark, DK-1220 Kbenhavn K, Denmark

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: New research results from glass beads found in Denmark reveal surprising evidence for contact in the
Received 8 August 2014 14the12th centuries BC between Egypt, Mesopotamia and Denmark, indicating a complex and far-
Received in revised form reaching trade network. 290 annular glass beads ranging from dark blue to green, white and yellow,
26 November 2014
along with four polychrome beads, have been found in 14the12th century burials from Denmark and
Accepted 30 November 2014
Available online 13 December 2014
Schleswig-Holstein in North Germany. Coming from well dated contexts, twenty-three well-preserved
Danish glass beads were chosen for analysis.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Late Bronze Age
Glass beads
Trade network
New Kingdom Egypt
Mesopotamia
South Scandinavia

1. Introduction
Glass is a synthetic material obtained by fusing rocks high in
silica (quartz or sand) with uxing agents (soda or potash from
natural deposits or plant ash) in order to lower the melting
temperature. Glass obtained in this manner may be colored light
blue, yellow or green by natural impurities such as iron oxides. In
order to produce colorless or colored glass, glassmakers added
decolorants or colorants in the form of metal oxides. The
chemical compositions of ancient glasses (raw materials and
coloring recipes) vary with the place where the glass was made,
but also with the historical period of its production (Turner,
1956; Sayre, 1965). Although the beginning of glass production
dates back to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, most likely in
Mesopotamia, the manufacture on a larger scale started during
Middle/Late Bronze Age transition in the mid-2nd millennium
BC, in both Mesopotamia and Egypt (Peltenburg, 1987; Shortland
and Tite, 1998).
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: Jeanette.varberg@moesmus.dk (J. Varberg), gratuze@cnrs-
orleans.fr (B. Gratuze), emming.Kaul@natmus.dk (F. Kaul).
Early glass was a rare and expensive luxury traded along the
coasts of the Mediterranean between Egypt, the Near East and
Mycenaean Greece in ships like the Uluburun shipwreck off the
coast of Turkey, dating to the late 13th Century BC (Bass, 1986). Here
we present evidence for both Egyptian and Mesopotamian glass
beads in Danish graves from the second half of the 2nd millennium
BC, more than 5000 km from the initial glass workshops. As a
result, Denmark can be proposed as the most distant area that
received such beads, revealing links with the trade systems of the
Mediterranean.
2. The Scandinavian glass beads
It has long been known that the burial mounds of South
Scandinavia, particularly Denmark, contained glass beads (Mller,
1882; Kersten, 1935). Those reported here belong to the second
half of period II and period III of the Nordic Bronze Age, c.
1400e1100 BC. In one of the earliest works on Bronze Age glass in
Denmark, Egypt was mentioned as a possible place of production
(Mller, 1882). Later, this idea was dismissed because of the lack of
similar nds in Central Europe. There were seemingly no signs of
trade connections between Scandinavia and the eastern Medi-
terranean (Haevernick, 1978; Harding, 1971). The nd of a

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2014.11.036
0305-4403/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 J. Varberg et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 54 (2015) 168e181
European glass workshop in Northern Italy at Frattesina in the Po
Valley, although from a slightly later period, raised the possibility
that the glass beads could have had a European origin (Biavati and
Verita
, 1989).
2.1. The chemical analyses
Twenty-three glass beads recovered from different Danish
Bronze Age sites and ten fragments of glass working debris from
Amarna (Denmark National Museum collections) were analyzed
by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
(LA-ICP-MS). The ablation system used here consists of a Neo-
dyme:YAG laser working at 266 nm (quadrupled frequency)
coupled with the Thermo Electron Finnigan ELEMENT XR mass
spectrometer. The technique requires no special preparation of
the samples and is virtually non-destructive (Gratuze, 2013).
With the exception of one polychrome bead (B7328) composed
of a turquoise blue spherical body decorated with the colors of
amber, white and yellow glass eyes, the twenty-two other beads are
monochrome and range from light to dark blue. The Amarna glass
working debris are composed of eight amber (7411 9), black (7411
1), dark blue (7411 2e4) and translucent or opaque turquoise blue
(7411 5e7) glass rods and two glass chunks (7410 1 dark blue and
7410 2 turquoise blue).
Chemical compositional results are shown in Table 1. All
samples are soda glass, with soda (Na2O, 14 to 21.5 wt%) as the
primary ux, and high magnesia and potash indicating a plant
ash source for the soda (MgO, 3 to 7 wt%; K20, 0.5 to 4.1 wt%,
only two cobalt blue samples exhibit potash content below 1 wt
%). Their alumina, lime and iron contents present a large vari-
ability (Al2O3, 0.6 to 2.6 wt%; CaO, 4 to 11 wt%; Fe2O3, 0.26 to
1.1 wt%) as might be expected from the use of different source of
silica (SiO2). These compositions show that the glass used to
make the Danish beads and the Amarna glass working debris
was fused from powdered quartz or siliceous sands containing
various amounts of alumina and lime, mixed with the ashes of
plants high in soda, such as Salicornia sp. or Salsola kali. The
presence of a large amount of unmelted quartz grains is
observed in the Danish bead B17106.
For the Danish glass objects, ve beads are colored dark blue
by cobalt oxide (D115, B2209, B13707, B15853, B17106) and
eighteen turquoise blue by copper oxide, although one of these
contains an unusually high level of cobalt oxide (80 ppm for
B15205). Among the ve Danish glass beads colored by cobalt,
two (B2209 and D115) exhibit high zinc and nickel contents
correlated with cobalt, while for the three others, nickel and zinc
concentrations are much lower and are not correlated with
those of cobalt. The copper contents of these ve beads is fairly
low (CuO 0.007 to 0.14 wt %). For the eighteen turquoise blue
Danish glass beads, the low tin concentrations measured for
sixteen beads suggests the addition of relatively pure copper,
while in two cases (B3289 b and c), the high tin levels
indicate the use of bronze scrap containing from 6 to 8 % tin.
The amber, white and yellow glasses which compose the
eyes of the polychrome bead are respectively colored by iron
(probably iron polysuldes), calcium antimonate and lead
antimonate.
For Amarna, the black (7411 1) and the amber (7411 9) glass
rods are colored with iron (probably also as iron polysuldes).
The three dark blue glass rods (7411 2e4) and one of the chunks
(7410 1) are colored with cobalt and various amount of copper.
The high variability of copper concentrations in Egyptian cobalt
blue glasses has recently been shown by Smirniou and Rehren
(Smirniou and Rehren, 2013). As expected for Egyptian Bronze
Age glasses colored by cobalt, these four glasses are
169
characterized by high nickel and zinc concentrations correlated
with those of cobalt (Kaczmarczyk, 1986; Shortland et al., 2007).
Copper is the main coloring agent for the second chunk (7410 2)
and the three other rods (7411 5e7, turquoise blue translucent
and opaque). The glass of the turquoise blue opaque rod (7411 6)
contains 1.6% antimony, probably in the form of calcium antim-
onate. Among the seven Amarna glass rods and chunks which
contains more than 0.2% of copper (only the amber and black
rods and one cobalt blue rod contain less than 0.03% copper), the
tin contents show the use of bronze scrap containing from 5 to 8
% tin.
While the major element compositions of the Danish glass
beads and the Amarna glass working debris are characteristic of
Late Bronze Age Near Eastern glass, their trace element patterns
could allow us to distinguish between Mesopotamian and Egyptian
productions. Since 2007, several studies have proposed models
using chromium, lanthanum, zirconium and titanium contents to
distinguish between early Egyptian and Mesopotamian glass
(Shortland et al., 2007; Rehren and Pusch, 2005; Shortland and
Eremin, 2006; Walton et al., 2009; Jackson and Nicholson, 2010)
while others focus on the copper- and cobalt-blue colorants
(Walton et al., 2012; Smirniou and Rehren, 2013).
If we apply these criteria to the Danish glass beads and the
Amarna glass working debris we observe that two of the Danish
glass beads (made with glass colored by cobalt oxide: B2209 and
D115) and all the Amarna glass working debris are characterized by
low chromium/lanthanum and variable zirconium/titanium ratios.
The twenty one remaining Danish glass beads exhibit higher
chromium/lanthanum and lower zirconium/titanium ratios.
By comparing our data with those published by Shortland,
Rehren, Walton and Jackson, we observed that the two Danish
cobalt blue glass beads and the ten Amarna rods and chunks fall
within the Egyptian glass group dened by these authors while the
twenty one remaining Danish glass beads fall within their Meso-
potamian glass group (Fig. 1).
According to their boron and lithium concentrations the Danish
glass beads made with Mesopotamian glass could be further
divided into two groups: twelve beads are characterized by me-
dium to high boron (0.12e0.32 % B2O3) and lithium (>0.005% Li2O)
contents while nine have far lower boron (<0.055% B2O3) and
lithium (<0.005% Li2O) concentrations. One of the Mesopotamian
cobalt blue glass beads (B13707) belongs to the high boron lithium
group while the two others belong to the low boron and lithium
group (Fig. 2).
High boron glass beads have already been described on the
Mesopotamian sites of Hasanlu, Iran, (Brill, 1999) and Tell Brak,
Syria (Shortland et al., 2007).
The two other Danish beads, which matched the Egyptian glass
group, and Amarna glass working debris, are all made with low
boron glass.
The Egyptian origin of the two Danish glass beads (B2209
and D115) is conrmed by their colorant composition: in both
beads, cobalt correlates with nickel, zinc, and manganese.
This correlation has been shown to be typical of the cobalt colorant
extracted from Egyptian alum deposits such as those at the Kharga
and Dakhla oases (Kaczmarczyk, 1986; Shortland et al., 2006,
2007). The overall composition of these glasses appears also very
similar to the one of the Egyptian glass found at Uluburun (Jackson
and Nicholson, 2010; Smirniou and Rehren, 2013) in New Kingdom
workshops at Malkata and Amarna.
As observed previously, the nickel, zinc and manganese contents
of the three cobalt glass beads (B13707, B15853 and B17106), which
belong to the Mesopotamian glass groups, are lower than those
found in the two Danish beads with Egyptian origin, while their
copper contents are higher. A fourth bead (B15205) which present
Table 1

170
Average composition of the studied Danish glass beads and Amarna glass working debris. Major and minor elements (Na2O, MgO, Al2O3, SiO2, P2O5, Cl, K2O, CaO and Fe2O3) are expressed as weight % of oxide, other elements (from
TiO2 to PbO) are given in part per million of oxide (1 ppm 0.0001%).

Type Reference Values in % Values in ppm

Na2O MgO Al2O3 SiO2 P2O5 Cl K2O CaO Fe2O3 TiO2 MnO CoO CuO NiO ZnO Li2O B2O3 V2O5 Cr2O3 As2O3 Rb2O SrO Y2O3 ZrO2 Nb2O3 SnO2 Sb2O3 BaO La2O3 CeO2 Nd2O3 PbO

Danish glass beads

1 Ke299/B 18.1 3.79 1.39 64.9 0.25 1.64 1.68 7.07 0.58 1041 2738 396 138 382 463 8 322 22 12 3.5 10 670 7.0 67 2.3 13 72 64 4.4 10 5.3 3.1
2209
1 Ke2014A/ 17.7 3.38 1.97 65.4 0.10 1.04 0.47 8.74 0.65 1143 1240 770 75 511 784 nd 386 18 14 2.0 4.2 560 8.0 52 2.4 10 12 48 4.3 11 5.5 3.4
D115
2 Ke243I/ 15.4 5.96 1.04 64.1 0.20 0.41 3.73 7.77 1.02 485 378 598 901 85 35 46 315 15 30 18 11 627 2.9 16 1.0 16 144 43 3.0 6.2 2.7 266
B15853
2 Ke3521D/ 16.4 4.45 1.05 65.9 0.17 0.52 3.84 6.23 0.78 678 298 710 1416 131 44 65 1240 19 32 28 14 463 2.6 18 1.2 17 312 69 2.7 6.3 2.6 623
B13707
2 Ke4045A/ 17.5 4.46 1.66 65.2 0.17 0.98 1.60 6.82 1.05 865 378 175 972 50 52 39 287 22 38 23 7.7 493 4.1 22 1.7 13 761 57 4.9 10 4.0 658
B17106
2 Ke793F/ 18.2 5.55 1.49 64.1 0.11 0.80 2.98 5.26 0.26 230 337 13 11,386 11 35 26 321 7.1 19 12 17 568 2.6 13 1.7 8.6 6.9 38 2.2 5.1 1.9 6.5
B15204

J. Varberg et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 54 (2015) 168e181

2 Ke793F/ 16.7 6.06 2.29 62.5 0.13 0.73 2.99 6.66 0.75 488 490 102 8864 78 51 42 349 13 30 46 25 656 4.3 31 2.5 19 12 80 3.9 8.8 3.4 10
B15205
3 Ke4170/ 21.3 6.51 1.43 60.3 0.14 0.94 2.10 5.53 0.33 375 383 0.4 179 11 42 nd 310 12 18 27 16 416 3.1 20 1.4 23 12,080 48 2.8 6.2 2.6 52
B7328
white
3 Ke4170/ 20.7 4.97 1.60 65.3 0.14 0.85 1.98 3.97 0.36 394 426 1.2 69 12 27 28 358 13 23 4.4 23 262 3.4 17 1.7 19 2.6 50 2.4 5.4 2.3 12
B7328
amber
3 Ke4170/ 19.5 6.97 1.85 60.2 0.10 0.90 1.79 4.92 0.65 416 423 2.6 2559 11 31 5.5 229 12 19 17 14 471 3.7 25 2.0 9.1 4284 102 3.5 7.3 3.0 23,126
B7328
yellow
3 Ke4170/ 18.0 4.63 2.12 66.6 0.15 0.87 1.92 4.03 0.55 433 463 17 9976 15 36 22 333 14 21 30 29 266 3.3 17 2.4 15 6 62 3.1 6.6 2.9 151
B7328
blue
4 Ke1477A/ 16.5 5.38 1.34 59.1 0.23 0.37 3.16 7.51 0.62 649 441 25 54,700 188 147 30 515 17 52 93 12 584 3.4 23 1.3 235 159 73 3.4 7.3 3.0 97
B3289 a
4 Ke1477A/ 15.5 5.02 1.36 58.1 0.25 0.40 2.96 6.98 0.71 783 471 43 76,950 451 116 27 548 19 61 147 15 547 3.8 30 1.5 6329 110 75 3.9 7.9 3.6 261
B3289 b
4 Ke1477A/ 17.3 6.12 1.20 60.8 0.20 0.42 2.44 6.38 0.57 590 449 22 40,459 253 71 14 412 18 35 95 9.3 555 3.1 19 1.2 2738 123 57 3.2 6.4 3.0 231
B3289 c
4 Ke1477A/ 17.0 6.00 1.70 60.8 0.28 0.29 3.28 6.36 0.78 769 453 20 32,143 161 158 26 437 24 58 49 14 566 3.7 26 1.5 213 123 80 4.2 9.2 3.8 163
B3289 d
5 Ke4719I/ 19.1 3.40 0.98 65.9 0.46 0.48 2.14 5.10 0.43 436 245 7.4 14,875 25 62 104 3230 14 31 25 10 350 2.9 20 1.1 59 25 41 2.9 5.8 2.5 33
FHM
1389a
5 Ke4719I/ 17.8 4.15 1.20 64.2 0.19 0.53 2.62 6.31 0.60 654 345 12 19,811 33 44 81 2447 19 40 33 13 541 4.4 27 1.5 55 114 57 4.6 8.5 3.7 73
FHM
1389b
5 Ke4109/ 19.5 4.73 0.93 63.1 0.19 0.73 3.37 5.55 0.54 455 374 40 10,731 37 88 72 1407 16 34 23 11 426 2.4 15 0.9 92 76 42 2.4 5.5 2.1 71
B611 a
5 Ke4109/ 21.5 3.33 1.02 64.5 0.15 0.42 2.16 4.35 0.41 508 265 6.3 17,285 19 117 84 2604 13 26 33 20 283 2.8 18 1.4 39 15 51 3.2 6.9 2.9 47
B611 b
5 Ke4109/ 18.9 3.52 1.03 66.0 0.15 0.48 2.34 5.11 0.46 483 249 12 16,321 61 43 73 2750 15 28 29 10 363 2.9 18 1.1 104 17 37 2.9 5.9 2.6 25
B611 c
5 Ke4109/ 19.9 3.84 0.93 64.8 0.15 0.55 2.58 5.20 0.41 446 316 13 12,483 34 58 51 2205 14 31 27 8.5 405 2.4 14 0.9 75 22 34 2.2 4.9 2.1 29
B611 d
5 B7424 a/ 19.1 3.88 1.15 62.7 0.26 0.48 2.77 5.36 0.56 580 287 13 33,661 54 89 85 2110 18 40 41 14 389 2.8 19 1.2 123 74 61 3.1 7.7 2.9 56
2177s185
5 B7424 b/ 19.1 3.89 1.20 63.4 0.23 0.46 2.77 5.52 0.56 573 284 10 24,943 36 76 88 2275 18 37 35 13 419 3.2 21 1.3 66 69 59 3.4 7.1 3.0 63
2177s185
5 B7424 c/ 18.7 4.18 1.26 62.7 0.29 0.45 2.92 5.80 0.67 615 330 16 26,679 47 82 76 1928 20 41 37 14 441 3.3 22 1.3 256 67 73 3.9 8.0 5.9 103
2177s185
 J. Varberg et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 54 (2015) 168e181 171

an unusually high cobalt content (80 ppm) shares similar charac-

2778

1215
teristics. Thus, the cobalt colorant used for these beads does not

884

114

674

101
59

28

66

27

18

12

57

46
seem to originate from the Egyptian alum deposits. However its
characteristics are similar to a new type of cobalt recently identied

0.32 0.13

0.03 0.02
2.9

2.5

3.3

3.2

6.5

9.0

5.7

4.6

3.1

2.6

4.3
10

by Walton in a series of Bronze Age glass axes from Nippur (Walton

et al., 2012). Due to varying trace element ratios, these objects were
7.0

5.5

7.1

7.4

6.9

6.0
17

11

16

10

11

12
placed into different cobalt sub-groups and the one used for the

1710 16,988 4528 0.37

234 0.08
Danish beads appears to be similar to their type 2a (Figs. 3 and 4).
58 3.1

42 2.7

73 7.9

37 3.6

36 4.0

69 5.3

50 7.1

46 4.9

46 5.7

41 3.9

38 3.3

48 5.3
This newly determined cobalt colorant has never been identied in
Egyptian glass, conrming the Mesopotamian origin of these beads

18,848
found in Denmark.
1468 4816

2891

1056
620

201
3.0

0.3

6.6
58

56

1137 16

61
2.2. Results: typology and provenience
116

151

993

736

553
77

38

23

53

19

53
Based on the glass analyses and the archaeological evidence it is

50 0.64

4 0.06
20 1.3

19 1.1

117 3.8

42 1.8

68 1.7

81 2.1

81 2.4

79 2.0

132 2.6

59 1.7

55 1.4

102 2.6
possible to divide the Danish glass beads into ve types.

2.2.1. Type 1
1034 0.38

44 0.07
Includes the two annular glass beads B2209 and D115- see Fig. 5,
439 3.0

348 2.8

2343 2.9

997 3.8

912 8.2

443 5.3

1242 3.1

1149 2.7

463 4.6
467 10

803 10

440 11

both made of Egyptian cobalt glass. Olby bead B2209 was found in a
female grave on the island of Zealand, dated to the 14th century BC
(per. II). The woman was richly adorned with a large number of
7.7

7.4

6.5

3.4

6.8

6.3

8.0

7.1
12

13

12

10

94

bronze ornaments. She wore the glass bead, together with two
8

amber beads, on her upper arm. Bead D115, from Hesselager on the
7.5

1.0

2.5

1.9
29

33

53

75

15

46

84

21

34

island of Funen, was found in a rich female grave with a similar

2
Average and standard deviation values obtained for Corning A glass standard analyzed as an unknown sample with the studied glasses

dating.
7.0

7.7

8.5
41

31

10

10

11

12

12

11

14

29

2.2.2. Type 2
78 71 1864 17

91 94 3060 15

395 22

194 14

185 13

351 17

426 18

304 15

225 18

169 14

163 10

265 19

518 99 1904 62

73 3

The type is based on six annular dark blue and turquoise glass
beads B15853, B13707, B17106, B15204, B15205 and B15206 made
of Mesopotamian cobalt-blue glass similar to the Bronze Age glass
1926 540 1404 8.3

14 9.2

993 8.5

29 8.2

66 8.3
29 13

17.4 4.12 2.19 60.6 0.15 0.92 1.25 9.31 0.57 1003 2396 1021 18,545 569 1509 16

858 16

52 11

35 11

19 9

axes of Nippur. All the beads are from rich female graves dated to
the 14th century BC (per. II). The Melby grave (B15853) contained
one annular blue glass bead, one annular amber bead and one
3.6

8.9

6.1

6.4
14 18,559 41

11 14,922 24

8.1 15,355 40

367 391

2794 311

3.8 14,719 17

14.1 2.50 0.93 67.1 0.11 0.13 2.96 5.15 1.10 7503 10,157 1783 11,878 232

255 15

amber bead in the shape of an axe. The Ordrup grave (B15204-6)

contained three glass beads together with three amber beads and
107

68
3.3 7713

2.2 6366

one mother of pearl bead, all worn on the upper arm. Glass bead
B17106 was found together with two amber beads in a child's
1.9

2.2
14.1 3.77 2.63 66.6 0.12 0.83 1.14 9.04 0.82 1686 1231 1022

14.9 4.35 2.38 68.0 0.09 1.08 0.79 7.04 0.60 1173 1973 895

940 1148 606

45

grave.
320

244

180

329

162

201

157

131

234

2.2.3. Type 3
The type is based on polychrome bead B7328 (Fig. 6), found in a
Egyptian glass from Denmark National Museum used as comparison material
651

513

749

725

17.3 3.36 1.14 65.5 0.16 0.85 1.12 8.19 0.58 1239

803

603

17.6 3.17 1.06 67.5 0.17 1.08 1.09 7.56 0.51 1171

312

rich female grave also dated to the 14th century BC (per. II), on the
west coast of Jutland. The copper-blue bead has three stratied eyes
18.7 4.27 1.19 63.6 0.26 0.51 2.84 5.87 0.59

19.5 3.67 1.10 65.7 0.15 0.46 2.23 4.84 0.47

15.4 4.70 0.87 64.3 0.11 0.93 1.47 9.77 0.44

17.2 4.44 0.89 64.5 0.12 1.42 1.71 9.08 0.41

17.9 4.04 1.78 62.6 0.13 1.10 1.17 9.67 0.51

14.0 4.14 0.84 63.9 0.12 0.72 1.71 11.1 0.42

16.9 3.34 0.63 65.9 0.15 0.91 2.07 8.54 0.35

0.6 0.007 0.01 0.09 0.17 0.05

made from super-imposed layers of opaque white, amber and

opaque yellow glass.

2.2.4. Type 4
The type is based on four analyses (B3289a-d). They represent
four beads from a necklace of a total of 30 annular blue and green
glass beads. He four beads were made of Mesopotamian glass found
in a rich female grave dated to the 13the12th century BC, (per. III),
on the island of Bornholm. The average lithium and boron oxides
contents for this type is about four to ve times lower than the ones
of type 5 (respectively 24 and 80 ppm for Li2O and 480 and
0.4 0.04 0.02

2350 ppm for B2O3), and the two types may therefore represent
two different Mesopotamian workshops producing glass beads at
the same time. Another explanation is that two sources of raw
material were used by the same workshop.
2177s185
B7424 d/

Ke4873/

2.2.5. Type 5
DANMK

DANMK

DANMK

DANMK

DANMK

DANMK

DANMK

DANMK

DANMK

DANMK
7410 1

7410 2

7411 1

7411 2

7411 3

7411 4

7411 5

7411 6

7411 7

7411 9

Corn A

Corn A
B3516

The type is based on the analyses of eleven annular turquoise

avr.

std.

glass beads: FHM1389a-b (two beads), B611 (four beads analyzed

from one nd containing a total 27 similar beads), B7424 (four
5

beads analyzed from one nd containing a total 30 similar beads)

172 J. Varberg et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 54 (2015) 168e181

Fig. 1. Comparison of chromium/lanthanum and zirconium/titanium concentration ratios of the Danish glass beads with those of Egyptian and Mesopotamian glasses.

and B3516 (one bead analyzed from one nd containing a total 44
similar beads esee Fig. 7), made of Mesopotamian glass and found
in rich female graves dated to the 13the12th century BC. Alto-
gether, 103 glass beads, probably of this type, have been found in
Denmark. Types 4 and 5 are also very similar to glass beads found at
Campu Stefanu, Corsica, where one grave contained a necklace of
25 blue glass beads and 28 amber beads (Peche-Quilichini et al. in
press)
3. Discussion: between Egypt, Mesopotamia and South
Scandinavia
The Egyptian and Mesopotamian glass beads found in the
Danish graves (most frequently in female graves, but also in those
of men and children) suggest that by the 13th century BC trade
routes between the Mediterranean and Scandinavia were already
well established. At about the same time as the blue glass beads
reached the area of the Nordic Bronze Age culture, c. 1400 BC
(mature Nordic Bronze Age per. II), other objects demonstrating
inuence from the Eastern Mediterranean appeared as well.
Folding stools, with an intact example from an oak cofn burial in
Guldhj, South Jutland, tree-ring dated to c. 1389 BC (Randsborg
and Christensen, 2006; Prangsgaard et al., 1999; Wanscher,
1980), have been considered as evidence of such inuence.
Including the Guldhj stool, folding stools are known from 16
graves and one hoard in Denmark, South Sweden and North
Germany. All seem to belong to the 14th century BC. During the
same time period, similar stools are known from Egypt, and from
frescoes from the palaces of Pylos and Knossos (Wanscher, 1980).
The introduction of the one-edged razor in South Scandinavia
shortly before 1400 BC offers another example of inuence from
the Eastern Mediterranean (Kaul, 2013). In both cases, it was not
the objects themselves that were imported, but the design and
idea behind that was transmitted over long distances. The folding
stool may be considered as a symbol of dignity, and the emergence
of the razor could reect the introduction of new ideas for hair-
fashion (Kaul, 2013). It should be emphasized that every drop of
copper and tin was brought to South Scandinavia from far away
sources; the Alpine area was among the closest for copper, but also
copper from Cyprus was used in the Nordic Bronze Age (Ling et al.,
2014).
The determination of provenance of a number of Danish glass
beads marks an important step towards an understanding of the
long distance contacts of the Bronze Age. The Danish glass beads

Fig. 2. B2O3 versus Li2O binary diagram for the studied Danish glass beads and Amarna glass.
 J. Varberg et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 54 (2015) 168e181 173

Fig. 3. Comparison of cobalt and nickel concentration of the Danish glass beads containing cobalt with those of Egyptian and Mesopotamian cobalt glasses.

represent rm physical evidence of the most extended connec-
tions, reaching even beyond the Mediterranean to Egypt and
Mesopotamia. Possible intermediate stations could be pointed out,
such as Mycenae, Pylos, Tiryns and Volos (Smirniou et al., 2012;
Walton et al., 2009). Further places where different trading net-
works were connected could be in Adriatic South Italy, in the
Caput Adria area, the Po Valley, the North Italian/Austrian Alpine
regions, in South Central Germany and in the middle Danube
areas.
But what is the explanation for the large number of glass
beads in the Danish material? The answer may be found at the
7300 km-long shoreline of Denmark, where it is possible to nd
large quantities of Baltic amber e the gold of the north. Amber
was another material of high value, and like glass provides ev-
idence for long distance exchange and ancient routes of contact.
Today, most of the Bronze Age amber found in the Mediterra-
nean has been scientically determined to be succinate, the
Baltic amber recovered from the coasts of the Baltic Sea, here
including the South Swedish coasts of Scania and Danish Jutland,
along with the northwest German Frisian coast on the North Sea
(Faber et al., 2000; Goldhahn, 2013). Evidence for the collection
and storage of unworked amber has been found at a Middle
Bronze Age farm at Bjerre, near the coast in northwestern
Jutland (Bech and Mikkelsen, 1999), while at Understed near the
east coast of North Jutland, 3.3 kg of unworked amber lumps
were deposited in a pottery vessel together with two bronze
neck collars, dating the deposition to around 1400 BC (Jensen,
2002).
There were many amber routes (Harding, 1984), and these may
be seen as parts of a system with many possibilities of intercrossing,
including in Central Europe north of the Alps. A group of western
routes followed the Weser-Elbe river systems and the Rhine, while
other more eastern routes followed the Oder River (Kaul, 2013). The
distribution of amber nds demonstrates that in the Alps, the
Brenner and Julier passes were important corridors leading to the
Po valley and further, to the Adriatic Sea. An easterly route via
Vienna or Sopron passing just east of the Alps would also reach the
Caput Adria area. Further transport was by sea along the coasts of
the Adriatic, where there may have been middle stations in South
Italy before this long communication route ended in Mycenaean
Greece. Splendid Late Bronze Age examples of the most distant
nds of Nordic amber are provided in Syria by the Qatna Lion, a
small lion-shaped amber cup, probably locally produced from a
large lump of amber (Mukherjee et al., 2008), and the beads and
scarabs of Nordic amber that were found in the tomb of Tutank-
hamen (Hood, 1993).

Fig. 4. Comparison of cobalt/nickel and cobalt/zinc ratios for the Danish glass beads colored by cobalt with those of Egyptian and Mesopotamian cobalt glasses.
174 J. Varberg et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 54 (2015) 168e181
Fig. 5. D115 Hesselager and B2209 Olby, Denmark. Both made of Egyptian cobalt-blue
glass from the 14th century BC. Photo: A. Mikkelsen, National Museum of Denmark.
(For interpretation of the references to colour in this gure legend, the reader is
referred to the web version of this article.)
Amber and glass were linked at many points. In North Ger-
many the 13th century BC hoard from Neustrelitz contained
bronze ornaments, 180 blue glass beads and 20 amber beads. The
glass analyzes pointed towards an origin in the Mediterranean
area (Mildner et al., 2010). In a burial belonging to the tumulus
culture from around 1400e1450 BC, at Schwarza in South Thur-
ingia, Germany, blue glass beads and amber beads have also been
found together (Ebner, 2001). In South Italy there is a concen-
tration of both amber beads and glass beads (Bellintani, 2010a,
2010b), while further to the east, following the Danube River
through Hungary and Romania, evidence of trade with amber and
glass beads shows another amber route. Hoards in Romanian
caves containing both amber and blue glass beads once again
demonstrate how the two materials were interlinked in the Late
Bronze Age. Two hoards from the Cioclovina cave, Hunedora
district, dated to the 14the12th century BC based on the
morphology of the artefacts, included bronzes and sets of orna-
mented antler bridle rods from two horses' harnesses, along with
500 faience beads, 1770 amber beads and 1395 glass beads
(Petrescu-Dmbovita, 1977). Further south, in the heartland of
Fig. 6. B7328 from Sovigaarde, Denmark, is a Mesopotamian bead with three yellow,
amber and white-colored stratied eyes; 14th century BC. Photo: A. Mikkelsen, Na-
tional Museum of Denmark. (For interpretation of the references to color in this gure
legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Fig. 7. B3516 Humlum, Denmark. 44 Annular blue Mesopotamian glass beads from
12th century BC. Photo: A. Mikkelsen, National Museum of Denmark. (For interpre-
tation of the references to color in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web
version of this article.)
Late Bronze Age societies, both Baltic amber beads and beads and
ingots made of Egyptian glass formed part of the precious cargo of
the ship wrecked at Uluburun (Jackson and Nicholson, 2010). In
Denmark, when glass beads have been found in secure burial
contexts they are often together with amber beads. It is possible
that glass and amber beads shared some symbolic or magical
value that made it benecial to carry them together. In addition, a
social value would have been apparent. People of the highest
levels of society that controlled and benetted from the amber
export may have been the receivers of the exotic and valuable
glass beads, with some of the richest Danish female graves
vigaarde, Omme and Humlum) physically close to well-known
(So
amber nd-spots along the Danish west coast.
4. Concluding remarks
By 1400 BC long distance exchange systems had evolved con-
necting the shores of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Meso-
potamia and the Nile in Egypt with the beaches of the Baltic and
North Seas. Glass and amber beads linked the widest expanse of
the known world; at both ends of this vast network, as well as at
key sites in between, Nordic amber and Egyptian and Meso-
potamian glass have been found together, forming a sort of dialog
between exotic materials from distant lands and rich domestic
resources.
Acknowledgments
We thank M. Henriksen, Odense City Museums for giving
permission to analyze bead D115, M. Rotea, National Museum
Transylvania for assistance and discussions, and A. H. Hansen, Na-
tional Museum Denmark for assistance with the Amarna glass
samples. We thank J. Lankton, UCL Qatar for useful revision of the
manuscript.
Appendix A

List of Danish and North German glass beads from 1400 to 1100 BC.
Find place Object nr. Number of Description Dark blue Turquoise Dark green Yellow White Polychrome Graves, Per. II Per. HI Female Male Child's Hoard Stray Dating
beads in total grave grave grave nd

Analyzed beads

Type 1 Olby

Olby Denmark Ke 299/B 2209 1 Annular bead. 1 X X X Per. II 1500
Worn on the e1300 BC
upper arm
together with
two amber
beads.

J. Varberg et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 54 (2015) 168e181

Hesselager, Ke 2014 A/D 1 Annular bead. 1 X X X Per. II
Denmark 115 Worn around
the neck in a
string.

Type 2 Melby
Prestegrds- Ke 243 1/B 1 Annular bead. 1 X X X Per. II
mark/Melby, 15853 Part of a bronze
Denmark string necklace.

Ordrup, Ke 793 F/ 3 Annular beads. 3 X X X Per. II

Manghje, B15204-6 Worn on the
Denmark upper arm
together with a
mother of pearl
bead and 3
amber beads.
(continued on next page)

175
(continued )

176
Find place Object nr. Number of Description Dark blue Turquoise Dark green Yellow White Polychrome Graves, Per. II Per. HI Female Male Child's Hoard Stray Dating
beads in total grave grave grave nd

J. Varberg et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 54 (2015) 168e181

Skrydstrup, Ke 3521D/ 1 Annular bead. 1 X X X Per. II
Denmark B13707 Part of a bronze
string necklace
with 5 amber
beads.

Esbjerg, Ke 4045 A/ 1 Annular bead. 1 X Per. II

Denmark B17106 Found together
with two
amber beads.

Type 3 Soviggaarde
Svigrde, Ke 4170/B7328 1 Glass bead with 1 X X X Per. II
Denmark inlays amber
glass, yellow
glass, white
glass.
Type 4 Store Loftsgaarde
Store Loftsgrd, Ke 1477 A/B 30 Annular beads 30 X X X Per. Ill 1300
Denmark 3289 and one amber e1100 BC
bead.

J. Varberg et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 54 (2015) 168e181

Type 5 Voerladegaard
Voerladegrd, Ke 47191/FHM 2 Annular beads. 2 X X X Per. III
Denmark 1389

Omme, Ke 4109/B 611 27 Annular beads. 27 X X X Per. Ill

Denmark 24 complete
and 3 half
beads. Found
together with
two gold
spirals.
(continued on next page)

177
(continued )

178
Find place Object nr. Number of Description Dark blue Turquoise Dark green Yellow White Polychrome Graves, Per. II Per. HI Female Male Child's Hoard Stray Dating
beads in total grave grave grave nd

Humlum, Store Ke 4873/ 44 Annular beads. 44 X X X Per. Ill

Kongehj, B3515-16a Found together
Denmark with two gold
spirals.

Nrre Snede, B 7423-24/ 30 Annular beads. 30 X X X Per. Ill

Denmark 2177* s.185

J. Varberg et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 54 (2015) 168e181

Beads not yet analyzed
Puggegrd, Ke 1440/Mus. 2 Annular beads. 2 X EBA 1500
Denmark Ronne 1600 e1100 BC
Melsted, Ke 1538/B 1770 1 Annular bead. 1 X X EBA
Denmark Lost.
Hesselager, Ke 2012C/D 54 3 Annular bead. 3 X X Per. Ill
Denmark Worn around
the neck in a
string.
Harrislee, Ke 2245 K 1 Annular bead. 1 X EBA
Germany
Schuby, Ke 2409 E 5 Annular beads. 5 5 X X X Per. Ill
Germany
Ulsby, Germany Ke 2440 C 13 Annular beads. 10 2 1 X X X Per. Ill
Shoolbek, Ke 2519D 5 Annular beads. 5 X X Per. Ill
Germany
Shoolbek, Ke 2520 B 1 Annular bead. 1 X X Per. II
Germany
Shoolbek, Ke 2521 B 1 Annular bead. 1 X EBA
Germany Very small.
Tinnum, Ke 2757 1 Annular bead. 1 X X Per. III
Germany Fragmented.
Westerland, Ke 2775 Green glass slag X X Per. Ill
Germany e from a bead?
Mjls, Denmark Ke 3061 3 Annular beads. 2 1 X X X Per. II
Harreby, Ke 3395B/ 2 Annular beads. 2 X X X Per. Ill
Denmark 20 183-84 Worn around
the neck in a
string with
three amber
beads.
Uldal, Denmark Ke 3540A/3235 1 Annular bead. 1 X X X Per. II
Small.
Lille Vedbol, Ke 3569 1 1 X X Per. Ill
Denmark
Ke 3645A 2 2 X EBA
Neder-Kestrup, Annular beads.
Denmark One broken.
Alslev, Ke 4037 1 1 X X X Per. II
Denmark
Tjreborg, Ke 4102 5 5 X X X Per. III
Denmark
Brandholm, Ke 4412 A 2 Annular beads. 2 X X Per. III
Denmark
Lille Ke 4624/FHM 1 Annular bead. 1 X X X Per. III
Fjelstervang, 2172
Denmark
ster FHM 2829 2 Annular beads. 2 X Per. III/IV
Hjermslev, 1300e900 BC
Denmark
Kisum, Ke 4641/B 1 Annular bead. 1 X X X Per. II
Denmark 13499 Found together
with amber
beads.
Egshvile, Ke 5115/THY 5 Annular beads. 5 X X X Per. II

J. Varberg et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 54 (2015) 168e181

Denmark 2554 x 31, 33, Bracelet.
34, 37, 38
Voruprvej 16, Ke 5231/THY 11 Annular beads. 11 X X X Per. III
Denmark 1417 x16D Bracelet.
Trankjr, Ke 5497/THY 1 Large round 1 X X X Per. III
Denmark 3542 bead with
white spiral.
Addit, Denmark Ke 6734 2 Annular beads. 2 X X X Per. II
Albersdorf, Ke 9005 B/B 3 Annular beads. 3 X X X Per. II
Germany 62 d
Louisenberg, Ke 9433 3 Annular beads. 3 X X Per. III
Germany
Mhlenbarbek, Ke 9453 1 Annular bead. 1 X X X Per. III
Germany
Gravenkrug, Ke 9624A 48 Annular beads. 21 16 15 X X X Per. III
Germany Found together
with 13 amber
beads and 2
gold spirals.
Hassmoor, Ke 9648C 1 Annular bead. 1 X X X Per. II
Germany
Jahrsdorf, Ke 9657B 1 Annular bead. 1 X X X Per. III
Germany
Gonnebeck, Ke 9888C 1 Annular bead 1 X X Per. III
Germany found together
with one gold
spiral.
Bornhoved, Ke 9815c 11 Annular beads. 11 X X Per. III
Germany
Ntzen, Ke 9954B 1 Annular bead 1 X X Per. III
Germany found together
with one gold
ring.
Wensin, Ke10004 3 Polycromatic 3 X X Per. III
Germany beads, blue
with a
horizontal inlay
(continued on next page)

179
180 J. Varberg et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 54 (2015) 168e181

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