Necklace and blade

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This necklace of jet beads and the flint blade were found in a cist burial within a cemetery at Almondbank near Perth in Perthshire. The wealthy burial dates from between 2000 and 1700 BC.

The necklace is made of 12 long barrel-shaped beads and 218 disc beads, all made from Whitby jet. It was an expensive prestige item for ostentatious display, imported from Yorkshire.

The only significant source of good quality jet occurs around Whitby in Yorkshire, although jet-related substances such as cannel coal and lignite are known from several places in Scotland. Jet was used in the Bronze Age for high status objects.

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• Online ID: 000-100-036-077-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.EQ 823
• Date: Between 2000 and 1700 BC
  
• Material: Flint, grey; narrow; retouched along part of edges
  Jet; twelve long barrel beads; two hundred and eighteen disc beads
  Blade
  Necklace
  
• Dimensions: 1.20" L
  
• What: Blade
  Necklace
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Perthshire, Perth, Almondbank
  Scotland, Perthshire, Perth, Almondbank
  
• Event:
• Description: Jet necklace composed of twelve long barrel beads and two hundred and eighteen disc beads, from Almondbank, near Perth
  Narrow blade of grey flint from Almondbank, near Perth
  
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