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.

consider in detail the occurrence in a region like Middle Sweden. From Birka the great trading place of the Viking period there is not a single find, neither among the grave finds nor among the settlement finds (1591 beads have been analysed; Callmer 1977 156). A beginning date of Birka no later than ca. A. D. 800 is accepted by most scholars (cf however Arrhenius 1976). The nearby tradingplace of Helgö has yielded numerous finds both from the cemeteries and from the settlement (3 grave finds and 7 settlement finds). The second type of bead which can indicate the circumstances of the opening up of the trade route to the east in the late eighth and early ninth century is another pierced bead probably from a technical point of view made exactly like the bead type just described. The glass is however plain and the colour is a rich amethyst violet (Callmer 1977 80; type A154, A155 beads). Beads of this type are well known from Eastern Europe (Fig. 5). There are several occurrences in North Caucasia and even in northern Persia (Gilan) (Fukai 1977 50). We further find them in the same regions as the millefiori bead type described above i. e. in Crimea (Deopik 1961 215,217), the Saltovo-Majaki area (Lvova 1968 91), Mordovia (Jastrebov 1893 tab XII) and in the Kama basin (Lvova 1973 95). It is however important to note that in Eastern Europe there are beads produced with the same technique but featuring other colours like blue and orange (Deopik 1961215). When we turn to the Baltic region

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we find this type of bead in numerous finds in Eastern Middle Sweden and on Aland (75 finds are known to the author). A number of finds are also known from the western part of Scandinavia (5 finds in Norway). There is however only one find from further west in Lower Saxony (1 find from Drantum, Emsteck parish, Cloppenburg; Museum Badzwischenahn). In between Eastern Europe and the Baltic there are two finds only of these beads. One is from the neighbourhood of Staraja Ladoga (Sedov 1970 26) and the other is the settlement at Staraja Ladoga itself (Lvova 1968 91). The single occurrence in Lower Saxony does not in my opinion change the general picture of a distribution as a result of a route across Eastern Europe. These beads occur throughout a larger part of Scandinavia and their circulation is obviously different from the millefiori beads already described. These amethyst coloured beads were actually used by agents of trade in the Baltic for trade also in other parts like along the Norwegian coast. They appear in special assemblages with silver foil segmented beads, occasional millefioris and Scandinavian white opaque beads with brown zigzag patterns (Callmer 1977 81, bead types BOH, B016, B019) and barrelshaped ribbed beads of green transparent glass (ibidem 81, bead type A345). This circumstance suggests very strongly that traders based in the Baltic mixed beads from different sources in order to use them for trade over large areas. These areas also included the Ilmen' basin as already stated (finds at Jes'ki and Kurovo) (Leont'ev 1986 7). This also means that Oriental beads were brought to the Baltic in some sort of packages. Did they come directly from the manufactures? It is difficult to tell but it is not unlikely. Positive evidence of this is the occurrence of defect beads at trading sites like Ahus and Paviken. In fact similar phenomena do also regularly turn up with other Oriental bead types at trading sites. No production waste but defect beads occur in the finds from a number of trading places in the Baltic (Callmer 1984 68). The chronological position of these amethyst coloured beads is similar to the preceding type but they have a longer period of use. They not only occur in the earliest phase of the Oriental beads but also continue to appear during a period when 28