Millefiori Mosaic Glass Beads from Eastern Java and Their Distribution in East Asia: Evidence from an Eastern Jin Tomb in Chenzhou

QIN Xuan

The Hunan Museum conserves a glass bead excavated circa the 1950s from a tomb dating to the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) in Chenzhou, Hunan Province, China. Comparable beads have been uncovered in various archaeological contexts throughout East Asia, including the Northern Wei tomb complex at Dongxin in Datong, Jin-period tombs in Guangzhou, and the royal Silla tombs from the fifth to sixth centuries in Korea. These beads are part of the Millefiori mosaic glass bead tradition associated with the Jatim glass industry in eastern Java. This region is among the few globally where intricate mosaic canes were produced during the fifth to seventh centuries CE. Although the stylistic and technological origins of these beads may ultimately trace back to Central Asia or even the Mediterranean region, they were likely reproduced locally by artisans in eastern Java. Archaeological evidence shows beads spread via maritime trade, moving from Southeast Asia along the Maritime Silk Road to Guangzhou, inland through southern China to Chenzhou, then northward to Datong, and across the sea to Korea. The distribution of mosaic beads shows the spread of glassmaking techniques and the long-distance movement of luxury goods, offering key evidence of technological exchange and trade between Southeast Asia and East Asia during the mid-first millennium CE.