Ancient Bactrian Glass Beads, aqua blues, excavated and reworked. 1 Strand. b11-mi-2075

Excavated ancient glass fragments reworked to make unique beads. Buried old glass fragments that have been re-cut & double drilled to make attractive beads. Mostly aquamarine color. Many beads with some high iridescent rainbow patina and mineral deposits. Ancient Bactria (northwestern portion of ancient Afghanistan and Tajikistan) was an important trading center between 600BC and 600AD, being on the Silk Road in between Europe and China. A lot of Roman Glass shards were excavated there and have been cut and bored to made gorgeous unique beads by Afghan local villagers. This is a strand, approximately 16 inches long with a pendant. These beads are irregular in shape and surface texture with some mineral deposits, and excellent rainbow patina on some, reflecting their 1000+ years. 

We are excited to have acquired a number of these exceptional strands.  The combination of the translucent aquamarine color of the glass, along with the calcification and the rainbow patina give them an opalescent quality.

Each strand is unique and measures about 16"  long. Please see photos for images of typical strands in this group.  Some strands have up to 32 smaller beads, while others have 26 larger beads. Afghanistan.