Archaeology Magazine - September 1958 - 23

and M'u'uer are 40.17 and 40.64 grams, and their specific gravities 3.35 and 2.62 respectively. H. O. Beyer
has published some evidence that glass was made in the
Philippines during the late Iron Age (possibly around
the time of Christ) but it is not known whether these
large pieces were made there or were imported from
elsewherein Indonesia or Asia.
Hexagonal bicones of cobalt-blue glass are common
in the Palaus and in Indonesia where, with other varieties
of beads, they are regarded as valuables or money. They
have been found among remains of the Han period in
China (206 b.c.-a.d. 220). Small striped glass beads
such as that in Figure 16 have been found in Sarawak
and in Formosa and on the Asian mainland, and may be
Chinese. Millefiori beads were manufactured in quantity
at Roman glassworks in Italy. Such items have been
found in China and Java in contexts not later than the
fourth and second centuries A.D. respectively. The style
originated in the Mediterranean area at least as early as
the time of the Ptolemies in Egypt, and beads of this
type were traded to or copied in Indonesia or Asia very
early in our era. The type illustrated is made of canes of
white glass with dark blue centers fused in a dark blue
ground mass and is not uncommon in the Indies.
The beads illustrated in Figure 16 (seventh and ninth
from left) are two of a number seen in the Palauan
islands. They present several problems and are, as far as
I could gather, among the most highly valued of the true
beads. The type is either a glass crumb bead or a simple
form of the impressed glass eye bead. The type is dif-

17. Kdamas it musthaveformed
a section of a large glass ring,
probably an arm-ring.The ticks
mark openingsof biconicalholes
drilled after the ring was sawed
into sections.Note the incurvate
sides on cross-section,in center
of quadrant.
ficult to date without recourse to large collections. Illustrations of similar, if not identical, beads from Europe
and Asia date through a wide range. They occur in the
early Iron Age of Europe (La Tène I). These breccia
or agglomerated glass or encrusted mosaic beads have
been made in Egypt since the second millennium B.c.
Although it is too early, lacking any detailed excavations on these islands, to predict cultural relationships, I
am willing to hazard a few guesses. These are that old
Palauan culture is strongly rooted in the Philippine Islands Iron Age or in the broader aspect of Indonesian
culture of which that was a part. Terraces, Palau money
and possibly the earlier pottery would seem to bear this
out. A later period must have seen a developing local
culture, probably with Melanesian influence. I now feel
that the terracing is not Melanesian but that at least the
later pottery-making, like many phases of the present
culture, was influenced by Melanesia. Another expedition
will help us answer some of these problems- and no
doubt raise others!

16. Palau money.Strung together are various types of beads. Below the beads is a sectionof triangular curvedgorget of deep
blue glass with colored glass scroll-and-dotdecoration; fifth from right end of the string is a smaller fragment of the same
type. Bottom,a gorget of greenish glass. These three are all sections of arm-rings.The place where these originated has not
been determined.Secondfrom the right end of the string is a striped glass bead, possiblyChinese.Seventhand ninth from
right are crumb or breccia.Another striped glass bead is shown third from left. Fifth from left is a true millefioribead.

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Archaeology Magazine - September 1958

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - September 1958