The discovery, in the course of the 1955 excavations at Tara, of a necklace which included segmented faience beads around the neck of an inhumed burial is the first recorded instance in Ireland of the occurrence of beads of this type with such a burial. It is, in fact, only the second case in which faience beads of any kind are known to have been found in a grave in this country. Since the discovery is so unusual and because of its implications for prehistoric trade and cultural connexions, it seems fitting that a brief account in advance of the full excavation report, should be offered for inclusion in this volume in honour of Professor Childe, one of whose most significant contributions to the study of prehistory has been to indicate such ancient contacts between different areas and to emphasize their significance.Excavations at Tara began in 1952. In that year and in 1953 work was carried out on the site known as the Rath of the Synods. In 1955 work was resumed at Tara—this time on the burial mound called the Mound of the Hostages. This site is ascribed to Cormac Mac Airt, King at Tara in the 3rd century of the Christian era. To Cormac also are attributed the building of others of the Tara monuments, including the most important of them—the Fort of the Kings and the Banquet Hall—and in general Cormac looms large in the scribal accounts of Tara. The 1955 excavation showed that the Mound of the Hostages was certainly not built in the 3rd century A.D.