The motif on this Celtic bead comes from a mound in Kočvare ( Lochovice) in the Beroun region. Others have been found in the Vícenice locality in western Bohemia.
- Length: 20 mm (+-5%)
- Material: shiny opaque glass
- Date: 600-390 BC (HaD-LtA)
- Czech manufacture
The bead is handmade on a glass furnace using an ancient technique of winding molten glass onto a metal rod - similar to the way beads were made in the Hallstatt period.Similar beads appear in the earlier Iron Age, but their popularity lasted into the early Middle Ages.
Celtic glass beads from the Iron Age represent an important archaeological source for the study of technology, trade and symbolism in the Latin communities. These are mostly glass beads made by winding molten glass onto a metal mandrel, often decorated with embossing, eyelets or waves in contrasting colours. They are most often dated to the Younger Iron Age (c. 5th-1st century BC). Finds come from both settlements and burial sites, where they appear in female and child graves, less frequently in male contexts. Significant finds are known from central Europe, particularly from Bohemia, Moravia, southern Germany, Austria and northern Italy. Research points to their function as part of necklaces, bracelets or clothing applications, but also to their possible apotropaic and status significance. Chemical analyses of the glass demonstrate the use of soda-lime glass and suggest distant contacts with Mediterranean areas.
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