Spacer Plate

A specialized flat bead with several parallel perforations intended to hold apart in regular order the threads of a multiple strand necklace. Sometimes, as in the amber multi-perforated spacer plates of the central European and British Bronze Age and the Mycenaeans, the perforations themselves are used decoratively. They were also made of jet or faience. Similar examples found in distant regions are often taken as indicators of long range trade.

Specialized large flat bead with a number of parallel perforations, used to hold apart the multiple strands of complex necklaces. They occur in the European Bronze Age, when they were commonly made of amber, jet or faience. Very similar amber examples have been found in regions as distant as Mycenaean Greece, southern Germany and southern England and are often taken as indicators of long range trade.