Outstanding garnet beads were found recently in an elite tumulus dated to the fourth century AD and located at the cemetery of Hagar el‐Beida in the Upper Nubian Nile Valley region. Whereas contacts of Northeast Africa with South Asia have just been proven through analysis of glass beads found in Nubia and dating to the time of intensive Indian Ocean trade, scientific evidence for Nubia's link with the regions to the west was lacking. Laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) was used to determine the elemental composition of three garnet beads to gain information about their type and origin. Additionally, we analyzed twelve garnets from two nearby alluvial placer deposits. While the garnet beads are inclusion‐free Cr‐poor and Ti‐rich pyropes related to alkaline mafic volcanic rocks, the local garnet deposits are shown to be inclusion‐rich almandines and thus unrelated to the investigated Nubian beads. Detailed comparison of data from Merovingian cloisonné jewellery and all known sources of the Cr‐poor and Ti‐rich pyropes shows identical ranges of elemental contents. The source of raw materials for the beads found in Nubia has been not identified with certainty yet, but sources in Portugal and Nigeria are suggested and a connection is shown to similar garnets from Merovingian contexts.

中文翻译：

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东北非洲的西部联系：苏丹古努比亚时期的石榴石证据

最近在公元四世纪的精英古墓中发现了杰出的石榴石珠子，位于努比亚尼罗河河谷上游地区的哈加尔·贝达墓地。东北非洲与南亚的接触刚刚通过对在努比亚发现的玻璃珠的分析得以证实，并且可以追溯到密集的印度洋贸易时期，但缺乏有关努比亚与西部地区联系的科学证据。激光烧蚀-电感耦合等离子体质谱法（LA-ICP-MS）用于确定三个石榴石珠的元素组成，以获取有关其类型和来源的信息。此外，我们分析了附近两个冲积砂矿床中的十二个石榴石。石榴石珠子是与碱性镁铁质火山岩有关的不含夹杂物的低铬和富钛的吡啶，本地石榴石沉积物显示为富含内含的金刚烷类，因此与所研究的努比亚珠子无关。对Merovingian景泰蓝首饰与所有已知的贫铬和富钛吡啶酮来源的数据进行的详细比较显示出相同的元素含量范围。在努比亚发现的珠子的原料来源尚未确定，但建议在葡萄牙和尼日利亚使用，并显示出与梅洛芬吉安语境下的类似石榴石的联系。