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Introduction: Beads are like small windows on the past. From green elephants and orange tigers to white fossil cylinders turned brown with alchemy formulas, they are both beautiful and baffling. The beads are attractive to the eye and smooth to the touch, but since they fit easily into a pocket, they travel easily. Thus while they are highly valued among collectors, archaeologists often dismiss beads when they are found without provenance. This article shows how beads can also help us to unravel the past, as their changing materials and forms were part of the transition from Iron Age to Mon and Pyu Buddhist eras in Myanmar from circa 300 BC to 500 AD.
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