Gold Bead Necklaces

Grouping of gold bead necklaces

Gold Grave (M7 nos 14 -A623)

Mapungubwe Hill, AD 1250 – AD 1290

Net weight ± 124.2g

An estimated 12 000 gold beads were sorted and grouped into 139 gold necklaces are now safely embedded within inert foam for display. For the purposes of practical conservation and curation, the beads were sorted, categorised, grouped and strung together. Surgical suture string was chosen to conform to the inside diameter of the beads. The gold bead necklaces were closed by a custom-made brass crimp, which hold the two loose ends of the thread together. Gold beads were found individually but no gold necklaces as such were excavated. Their current form is solely for stability purposes.