some other pictures... I'm sorry, it was not so easy to make pictures trough a glass! But I though about the Bead collector forum!!

Yes, indeed, Islamic and pre-Islamic. I found beads similar to Mopti, beads of excavations of the Niger valley. This illustrates the many pathways of these beads and trading at these times.

I am not certain I follow your comment—if you would be so kind as to rephrase or clarify it for me.

Let us remember that, from West Africa, south of the Sahara, it has not been demonstrated that any Roman Period beads have been recovered. These beads are post-Roman Period, and into the Islamic Period. However, as early as 1983 they have been routinely misidentified as "Roman beads" on many many occasions. A circumstance I have countered ever since that time. And, in point of fact, I began identifying "Roman" beads as deriving from the Islamic Period as early as 1980.

However, as I have remarked many times, post-Roman beads can be from just prior to the founding of Islam—and this event, in itself, has nothing to do with the manufacture of beads. Sometimes these earlier beads are characterized as being "Byzantine," to separate them from either Roman Period or Islamic Period beads.

For me, there are a number of issues at play: 1) The Romans get too much credit for the manufacture of glass beads over the time of their Empire; 2) These beads would have been made regardless of Roman invasions and control—because Western Asia was the seat of glassmaking and beadmaking; 3) ancient glass beads from West Africa are there because of Islamic scholars and tradesmen, who set up enclaves in and around Niger River sites in Mali (such as Jenne)—and these beads would, then, clearly be post-Roman beads.

Be well. Jamey

Your hypothesis is very interesting and very logical to which I adhere completely.
The trips of Henry the Navigator and Christopher Columbus in the fifteenth century show that there was already a rich Africa, organized and structured.
Could it not be possible that nomadic Fulani pastoral peoples, Sorko fishermen, traders, had contact with the peoples around the Mediterranean and as such could have used pre-Islamic beads in their trade? Research shows that contacts would be larger than previously thought between north and south. Would it be too much to think that beads from around the Mediterranean could have already found themselves in the region of Timbuktu before the establishment of Islam?
 The kingdom of Ghana that was founded according to medieval sources, around the 7th century BC was very prosperous. This kingdom extended from Middle Senegal to the region of Timbuktu and was based on the export of gold, copper, salt and slaves with the Maghreb. Can we not think that the exchanges, the commerce, the mobility of these peoples were more important than we think? The occupation of the Maghreb by the Arabs promotes the trafficking of gold and slaves and facilitates the expansion of the kingdom of Ghana which reached its peak around the Xth XIth century.
Of course there was then the kingdom of Mali in the ninth century and the Songhai empire from the fifteenth century who continued trade, trade.
I think of all this because the African merchants have a long history of homelessness, and I knew a Houassa, a formidable merchant, an outstanding trader, for whom the world was his garden and who traveled the world with disconcerting ease, as if his ancestors had been doing this forever . A pristine boubou for supplying the West African markets with beads, and he phoned me everywhere, sometimes from Hong Kong, Baghdad, Istanbul or Berlin and came to bring me ancient Mesopotamian beads that he knew perfectly well. I tell myself that he must have very old genes to travel and trade with such ease !! He impressed me a lot !!

Hello Kika,

I have not presented a hypothesis. My remarks are a summary of current thought among people who are familiar with this arena. I have participated in and followed all this since 1983. I have been involved with beads since 1967, and with African beads since 1972.

I understand the history you mention, quite well, and of course I agree with all of these facts and possibilities.

Let us be clear. I do not maintain that 'there are no Roman Period beads in West Africa.' I maintain that the beads we have seen, many times, that are "identified" as "Roman beads," have been misidentified—and they derive from later in time. And this has been my position and avowed proposition since 1983.

If ever some Roman Period beads appear from a West African context, that will be a provocative situation. However, as I have warned over the previous eight or ten years, NOW Middle Eastern beads are routinely brought into West Africa. The appearance of actual Roman beads may not be compelling, under these (new/recent) circumstances. And, by the way, a portion of the Middle Eastern beads now appearing in W. Africa happen to be FAKE beads. That is to say, they are imitations of old and ancient beads—many of which are poor or ineffective copies. But these are, as often as not, also said to have come "from Mali." And they probably did come to us from Mali—where they have resided for only a short time.

If you read past dialogues here, you will see I have discussed these issues quite a few times. I have also composed a paper on the misidentification and faking of ancient beads, for the Istanbul Bead Conference in 2007.

I note that in your reply, you did not clarify for me what you intended by "... similar to Mopti....." I can guess—but this is not as helpful as understanding.

In response to your reply, the exchanges you mention DID result in the Islamic Period beads that we know are recovered in Mali at Niger River occupation sites. Also, there have been occasional (but rare) instances where pre-Roman (Phoenician) glass beads have been seen and acquired from West African markets. It is not as though no trade goods ever appeared in W. Africa prior to the appearance of Islamic Period (+ or -) beads.

Repeating myself, the points I have maintained are that these beads have been misidentified, and routinely, wrongly, used to imply some sort of "Roman interaction with West Africa"—for which there is no evidence. My goal is that the beads be understood accurately. It is not my goal to prove 'there are no Roman beads in W. Africa.' I hope you understand these ideas better now.

Jamey