On the origins of British faience beads and some aspects of the Wessex–Mycenae relationship

Abstract

Interest concerning the origins of the faience beads found in Britain has led to much discussion and speculation. Occurring as they do primarily in Scottish EBA contexts and Wessex cremation burials, these beads link together British cultural extremes of the second millennium BC. By their occurrence also in Europe and more profusely in the Near East, they suggest trade connections which require the most searching examination of the evidence before definite conclusions as to their source can be reached. The classic studies on faience beads were completed by Beck and Stone (1936) and Stone and Thomas (1956). Their carefully considered opinions indicated positively an Eastern origin for the British beads, but this view has been challenged recently by Newton and Renfrew (1970) using as a basis for their thesis the spectrographic analyses reported by Stone and Thomas who had ruefully regarded them as non-indicative of provenance. It must be stated from the outset that the work to be described here does not indicate the exact source of the British beads but it can be claimed to resolve adequately the problem of the local as opposed to Eastern origins.