When I first saw these old vintage clay beads, I immediately though they look like something dug up at an old Mediterranean excavation site. They resemble old clay olive pots back from the old Greek or Roman days. Nothing exemplifies this more than Monte Testaccio in Rome near the Tiber River. It literally is a 115-foot high, 5-acre artificial hill made entirely of broken ancient Roman pottery fragments, mostly olive oil storage jars called amphorae. It contains the remains of roughly 53 million discarded containers that were discarded/accumulated between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD. Somehow, the mound was meticulously managed into terraced layers instead of just a random pile---an engineering marvel really. It really stands out above Rome and has become a national treasure with limited visitation granted. It’s incredible to think of all the history and artifacts that are there and have been so well preserved. This bracelet looks like something that may have been found there. The Huge Bauxite Bead and those Vintage Hand-Made Clay Beads just have an old-world look and feel to them. Throw in the Ox Bone and Wood and there’s a real earthiness to this piece. A Large Acacia Wood Mala Skull is a shout-out to the one and only Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi who once used the mound as a defensive position against an attacking French army. This is a nice chunky piece and has a nice, balanced weight to it. If you’re a fan of history and old dig sites, this is your baby because it looks and feels the part.
