Vadas Ferenc (szerk.): A Wosinszky Mór Múzeum Évkönyve 15. (Szekszárd, 1990)

Handelsbeziehungen - Johann Callmer: The beginning of the Easteuropean trade connections of Scandinavia and the Baltic Region in the eighth and ninth centuries A. D.

In fact there is only one type of the Oriental millefiori beads with a few variations which could be shown to have a distribution which is relevant to our question. This type of bead is made of offcuts of a millefioristave which are most often rounded off and subsequently pierced so that the cut ends of the millefiori rod with the pattern are not touched by the piercing. The stave shows a solar pattern. It is most often a yellow sun with a red edging and light green and dark bluish green rays. The latter effect is caused by small streaks of yellow opaque glass embedded in bluish green, transparent glass (Callmer 1977 colour plate IV: jool-second from the left). Occasionally rays may be of other colours like blue and white and black and white (Lvova 1973 Ris. 1: 21, 25, 26). This type of bead has a distribution (Fig. 4) which covers Northern Persia (Gilan) (Fukai 1977 PI 47), Northern Caucasia including Dagestan and Ossetia (Deopik 1961226). They are also found in Crimea (ibidem; 225). Numerous finds come from the Saltovo-Majaki area (ibidem; Pletneva 1967 tabl. 3) where they are among the most frequent millefiori beads not least from the cemetery of Verchnij Saltiv itself. The type is well-known from the Mordovian cemeteries (Materialhaja kul'tura Sredne-Cninskoj Mordvy VIII-IX w. 1969 tab. 22, Jastrebov 1893 Tab XII), early graves in later Volga Bulgaria (Gening & Chalikov 1964) and in the Kama Basin (Goldina & Koroleva 1983 tab. nr85, Mazitov 1981 ris. 23:29,47,51). Further east there a few finds from Western Siberia (Belikova & Pletneva 1983) and Central Asia (Deopik 1961228-9). Outside this Easteuropean distribution area we find them only with very few exceptions in Eastern Sweden, Aland and in Finland (23 find localities are known to the author). The single point in between this Scandinavian distribution area and Eastern Europe is Staraja Ladoga (Lvova 1968 68). Further to the west we have a single find from the Norwegian westcoast (Bergen museum B 8624 More & Romsdal fylke, Hjorund fjord parish, Standal, lex) and another one from the Swedish province of Jämtland (Stockholm SHM 13804:1 Jämtland, Frösö parish, Vagled, lex). Jämtland has a findmaterial which shows close parallells with Eastern Middle Sweden. Quite isolated is the find of a fragmentary bead of this type from Dorestad (Isings 1980 234). With reference to the rich finds of other Oriental millefiori beads in neighbouring Northern Holland and Lower Saxony and a complete lack of other finds of this special type we rather regard this find as an occasional stray specimen. It could also be added that this specimen and the Norwegian find both are atypic. Finds of this type are of great interest since they can with reference to other finds in the graves in which they occur be dated to the late eighth and the earliest part of the ninth century in their Scandinavian context. Of great importance for the chronology are the frequently associated antler combs for which we have partly dendrodated good stratigraphical records of a consecutive change of types throughout the Early Medieval period (cf Tempel 1979 58). Of special interest for us is to note that these beads obviously are among the earliest Oriental beads to appear in the Baltic region. They appear in several cases at a stage when the Oriental beads had not yet arrived in' great quantity so that they generally could make up the majority of the beads in the necklaces in Middle Sweden (5 finds are of this character). Obviously this type of bead in large numbers was traded to the Baltic region in the late eighth century. A definite date cannot be given but it must be some time during the last quarter of the eighth century. This trade is directed to a very restricted part of the Baltic region. It is the middle part of the Baltic with the center in the Malar region, Aland and Western Finland. It is of great interest to 27