GLASS BEAD TRADE FROM ISLAMIC EGYPT TO SOUTH-AFRICA C AD 900-1250

Glass beads are found at most Iron Age sites in southern Africa from A D 800-900 onwards. Except for one type made locally from re-worked gla ss, all the beads were imported from glass-producing centres elswhere, widely believed to have been India and the Indian Ocean rim, with dis tribution through Arab traders in the Indian Ocean. We have used plasm a mass spectrometry to determine the rare earth element contents of so me beads excavated in the former northern and eastern Transvaal and fo und that they are identical to beads produced in al-Fustat (now Old Ca iro). The alkali agent used to make the glass is specific to seawater and its derivatives, as found on the desert coasts of Egypt. Specimens from two Indian manufacturing sites do not show the same seawater pat tern. This casts a new light on maritime trade along the east coast of Africa a millennium ago, and external influences which helped to laun ch significant political developments in southern Africa.