Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2007, Qupperneq 18

Elín Hreiðarsdóttir
The most common type of
wound beads (around half of the col-
lection) found in post Viking Iceland
are monochrome beads of simple form.
These beads are usually between 5-10
mm in diameter and are most commonly
in blue tones although white, green and
reddish beads have been found (see for
example Hólar, unregistered nr. figure
3, nr 4). Eight wound beads are mono-
chrome with a complex form. Three of
these are so called melon beads with five,
six and nine ridges. Two of these come
from Skálholt (an orange bead SKH-1567
- see figure 3, nr. 6 -, and a light grey/
colourless bead SKH04-6498) and one
from the church farm at Reykholt (tur-
quoise colour bead RKH1988-214-262).
Two of the melon beads are tightly dated
to the 17th—18th centuries. Two wound
beads have been found of similar form,
which consists of eight faceted surfaces.
Both are found in the same area, one dur-
ing excavations in Skálholt but the other
is a stray find from the farm of Steinsholt
16 km east of Skálholt. The Skálholt
bead (a blue bead SKH-1665) is dated by
context to 1784-1896, but the bead from
Steinsholt (a colourless glass bead Þjms.
10596) can only be presumed to be ear-
lier than the abandonment of the farm in
1803. The latter bead was actually found
during erosion with another bead (Þjms.
10595 - see later) and a Viking age ring
pin and the find was therefore classified
as Viking age, but both beads are clearly
of 16th-l 9th century types. The other glass
bead from Steinsholt also has a parallel
in Skálholt. Both are so-called raspber-
ry beads of dark blue colour. Although
the colour, make and probable origin of
these beads are alike they are not iden-
tical. The bead from Steinsholt (Þjms.
10595) is slightly larger, has more nodes
and is better made than her uglier sister
from Skálholt (SKH-673 - see figure 3,
nr. 7). The last wound bead with altered
shape comes from Hólar (Þjms2002-37-
116 - see figure 3, nr. 8). It is a conical
dark blue bead.
Five wound beads with deco-
rated surfaces have been found from
later times in Iceland. One (Þjms. 5996)
is orange with a very unclear decoration
consisting of black fuzzy lines. The others
have more distinctive decoration. Two of
those come from Skálholt, one dark blue
with a yellowish wavy line decoration
that wraps three times around the bead
(SKH-674 - dated by context to 1784-
1896) and the other is black with a similar
but singular line decoration (SKH-3200
- dated by context to 1630/50-1784).
Another black wound and decorated bead
comes from Hólar (unregistered nr. - see
figure 3, nr. 5). It is elongated with four
white stripes, a beige/golden line in the
middle (all running parallel to the hole)
and a yellow dot in between. No informa-
tion was available about the date of the
bead but it bears strong resemblance to
Venetian beads from the late 19th century
(Karklings 1985:60-63). The last of the
wound, decorated beads is a stray find
from Árnessýsla (Þjms. 1964-202 - see
figure 3 - nr. 9). That bead is a highly
decorative, mosaic bead with a turquoise
base and an abstract multicoloured pattern
consisting of, among otherthings, chevron
stars. The bead likely originated in Venice
and is no older than the end of 19th cen-
tury. These beads were sometimes called
“End of the day” beads as it was claimed
that they had been made at the end of the
glass beadmaker's day frorn scrap glass
left on the factory floor, but they could
have been more intentional than this story
implies (Dublin 1998:128).
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