Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2007, Page 24

Elín Hreiðarsdóttir
ing a closer look at the assemblage and
comparing it to the amber beads from the
Viking age a clear difference emerges in
terms of their shape and size as well as a
minor colour difference. As a generaliza-
tion, the amber beads from later centuries
have a more bright orange/yellow tone
whereas among the Viking age beads, a
darker, reddish brown tone is more domi-
nant. The Viking age amber beads also
sometimes have sharp edges (i.e. are disc-
shaped) and as a general rule they have
a larger diameter while at the same time
being proportionally narrower. A further
difference can be seen in the perforations
of the beads, which seem to get much
narrower in later times than was most
common in the Viking age (Figure 5).
These differences are interesting, espe-
cially since the chronological variability
of amber beads has received very little
attention. It would seem to indicate that
there is a detectable difference between
Viking and later amber beads, which
is manifested most clearly in size (viz.
diameter of bead and perforation).
Jet beads
About 15% of Icelandic beads (50 exam-
ples) from later times were made of jet.5
This is a considerable increase from the
Viking age when less than 2% were made
of this material. Less than half of the Ice-
landic jet beads come from a tightly dated
context. Out of those that do, only three
are definitely dated before the 17th cen-
tury.6 Most of the others are either dated
to the 18th—19th centuries or have a wide
time frame (for example 14th—19th centu-
ries).
Very little is known about jet
bead manufacture and trade in medieval
and post medieval Europe. The most
famous source of jet for bead production
in this period is in northwest Spain. In
this region there was considerable use of
jet for jewellery production in connection
to pilgrimages to Santiago de Compost-
ela, which for centuries was the most fre-
quently visited place of pilgrimage after
Rome and Jerusalem. The popularity of
pilgrimages to Santiago took off in the
1 lth century, peaking in the 14th-15th cen-
turies with a some decline in the 16th-17th
centuries, partly due to the Reformation
and thus reduced pilgrimages. Despite
this some jet bead production continued
and in 1884 Pope Leo XIII officially
declared it a shrine. Santiago de Com-
postela is still today a popular place to
visit and jet beads continue to be made
(Iglesias 2007:1).
Large-scale production of beads
and other jewelry from the famous Whit-
by jet in England did not start until the
beginning of 19th century. The first jet
workshop in Whitby opened in 1808 and
by 1850 there were fifty, clearly indicat-
ing the increased demand for jet. In the
first half of the 19th century the jet was
collected from beaches where it had
eroded onto the seashore, but by the
middle of the century mining had start-
ed. By 1870 the demand for jet had
exceeded the supply in the Whitby area,
partly due to the fact that the jet was now
5 The jet in this research was only classified by a visual identification and it is therefore possible that some of the beads that
are called jet here might be lignite, cannel coal or oil shale. A full identification can now be done with a non-destructive
method using a combination of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-radiography. The XRP analysis has also successfully been
used to help identify the origin of the material and hopefully this analyzing will be done on the Icelandic material at some
point (see Hunter, F and Russel, B. in Mitchell, K.L., Murdoch, K.R and Ward, J.R. 2001).
6 From a church in Kúabót in Skaftafellssýsla (Kúabót 5046), Viðey (V93-489) and Skriðuklaustur (SKR03-36-400).
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