**Originally Listed At $500**

Northern Europe, probably Eastern area, Viking, ca. 9th to 11th century CE. A gorgeous, wearable necklace made using Viking age artifacts. Eighty-two glass beads, mostly blue, but with red, white, clear, black, and even the occasional green, form the strand while an enameled cast bronze cross with bulbous terminals hangs from the center. Wearable, with modern silver findings! Length of strand: 20.5" L (52.1 cm); width of cross: 1.25" W x 1.5" H (3.2 cm x 3.8 cm)

By 800 CE, the Vikings were trading across a huge area, from the islands of the North Atlantic (the first glass beads known from North America appear to have come from the Viking trading post at L'anse aux Meadow, Newfoundland) to northern Russia and the Islamic world. Glass beadmaking was a standard in many of the regions they visited, and so they returned home and established beadmaking workshops in Scandinavia, trading them at the great trading emporia, wics like Hedeby or Birka. Beads were often worn as festoons strung between oval brooches, though sometimes also as necklaces.

Provenance: private Orange County, California, USA collection

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#127946

Cross has bright green patina, with slight bending to tips and some enamel remaining as shown. The glass beads are generally in nice condition, with light patina; approximately five have small losses. Modern stringing and findings.