EAST AFRICA
10,000 - 500 BCE

Necklaces of ostrich eggshell have a long tradition in East Africa. Examples of such beads have been found as far back as the Late Pleistocene, and are still used in many cultures today. This necklace is threaded on a cord of twisted flax fastened in a reef knot, as seen in Egyptian funerary contexts from the Neolithic through to late dynastic burials.