2600 YEAR OLD ANTIQUE ANCIENT ETRUSCAN BEAD..

The Etruscan culture rose in the 7th-6th century BC in what is now Tuscany.  The arts were highly developed but little is known about their specific history.  This is a Etruscan polished stone bead dating to about 600 BC.  It is a compressed spherical shape.  It is well polished and appears to be marble with gray inclusions.  It is 20.3 mm (over .80") in length. 9.5mm (over 1/3") in diameter.  It would have been strung, alternating with a fused metal bead of similar size.   An original of that form is in the collection of the collection of the Walters Museum in Baltimore.  This is a rare and major bead for any antiquities collection or modern jewelry creation.  vjk1 

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