A neat looking string of criss-cross radial-eye type beads found near Kiev, along the north-south trade routes, about the time of the Viking trade, 800 to 1100 AD. They are about 13 x 12 mm up to 17 x 15 mm in size. We would normally call this style Mediterranean in origin, or "Islamic era", and certainly there was plenty of this type of bead traded in the region at this time, but this lot has a distinctly different look and color scheme that leads me to believe they could be part of the Black Sea Littoral production, or possibly northern Europe. It is hard to see in these pictures, but the bead just right of center on the upper side has a tiny blue star inside the red spot-eye.