The exhibit catalogue describes all of these elaborate pectorals as deriving from the sixth century BCE. So they are indeed as early as I supposed. It is true that the occasional but rare occurrence of Phoenician beads has been known to happen in West Africa. They are usually the aqua eye beads I showed from Sicily (above). So, let's understand. I do not insist that there are no glass beads in West Africa from Roman times and EARLIER times. Phoenician beads ARE known—but they are very rare. Since the Phoenicians are known to have founded cities like Carthage IN North Africa, it would be odd if there were not Phoenician glass beads that made their way down into lower West Africa. How recently they migrated is anyone's guess. It might be within the last 100 years, for all we know.

The point I stress is that actual Roman Period glass beads have not been demonstrated to appear among the assemblages of ancient West African beads—and that the beads that may be so-identified are mistakenly identified. The typical eye beads from Mali derive from Islamic Period assemblages, and are of millefiori manufacture.

Nevertheless, we have a new issue to include in the fracas. Over the past five years or so, MANY African bead merchants have been traveling to the Middle East, returning with ancient and "ancient" Middle Eastern beads. These beads are now being sold as "African" beads—and usually "from Mali." They include specimens that were entirely unknown from Africa from before five years ago (in my experience). Some of these will be Roman Period beads, no doubt. Not all are ancient. Quite a few Middle Eastern FAKES also get into bead inventories now. We've had several posts on this topic in recent years.

[This is very parallel to our situation here in the US. Beginning in the 1970s, MANY trade beads were brought from Africa to the US—whereupon they were sold to us as "American Indian trade beads," which they were not. Now, thirty years later, this same problem still occurs, and eBay and similar sites are rampant with these fraud exchanges. Plus, many of the beads are now NEW beads. I have followed all this over the past eight years, ever since I began using eBay.]

The fallout from this is that NOW we may never know what is truly "African" unless there is indisputable archaeological evidence. The inventories of bead peddlers are no longer of any real help.

Jamey