Large ancient, brick red Indo-Pacific beads from Indonesia 5-12mm diameter, most 10-12mm. The strand has a few newer red jasper beads mixed in.
24-inch strand, collected in Jakarta, Indonesia in 1992
The Indo-Pacific family of beads originated in Arikamedu in Southern India around 400 BC and quickly spread in all directions. Over the next few hundred years, they reached all over Southeast-Asia, throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and all the to Scandinavia in Europe, becoming the "greatest little trade bead of all time" according to bead researcher Pete Francis.
They come in other colors, often aqua and blue from north Africa. Yellow and green are more rare.
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