Beads excavated from Antsiraka Boira necropolis (Mayotte Island, 12th-13th centuries)

Abstract

About hundred out of three hundred colored beads excavated from the necropolis of Antsiraka Boira (AB), in Mayotte Island (12-13th c.) were classified according to Wood’s morphological criteria and studied with a portable Raman spectrometer (532nm). Based on the recorded spectra, 22 beads were identified as representative and further analyzed in the laboratory with High-Resolution Raman spectrometers, using wavelengths of 458, 633 and 785nm. Additional SEM-EDS analysis was carried out on the surface and, sometimes, the bead cross-section. It turns out that white beads are made of aragonite and that almost all other beads have a soda glass matrix. Pyrochlore (yellow), amber/“Fe-S” (black), manganese oxide (black), copper metal nanoparticles (red), and Cu2+ ions (turquoise) chromophores were identified. Some red, yellow, black and turquoise beads also show the signature of chromium-doped tin sphene that could therefore be used as a marker. Most beads from the AB site can be classified as “Indo-Pacific”, revealing a similarity with the contemporary South African site of K2 (close to Mapungubwe). However, some red and black beads are similar to molten ceramic beads from the Vohemar Islamic necropolis (13-17th century AD, Madagascar Island). The on-site Raman analysis appears sufficient for the identification of chromophores and glass types.