Parthians, Kushans and Huns: New paradigms for the exchange of gems in the first millennium CE: Dr Noël Adams
Current event
Overview
Royal gold collar and beads (detail of dragon terminal), Hunnic Empire, 5th century, Gold and and garnet cloisonne; 2.3 x 8.6 cm and 2.3 x 8.8 cm;
On Monday 23 March 2026 the Wyvern Research Institute hosted a lecture by Dr Noël Adams entitled Parthians, Kushans and Huns: New paradigms for the exchange of gems in the first millennium CE.
Recent scientific analysis has shown that many garnets in Roman and early Medieval jewellery originated in South Asia, confirming classical claims of India as the source of the finest stones. In addition to travelling by sea, these gems also circulated through far-reaching geopolitical networks linking South and Central Asia with Mesopotamia, the Caucasus and the Black Sea. Dr Adams’s lecture explored this exchange of gems, beginning with the gem-set princely jewellery depicted on 2nd–4th-century Buddhist sculpture made in Kushan Gandhara (modern Pakistan and Afghanistan). The lecture concluded by looking at a 5th-century gold and garnet cloisonné collar from central Asia in the Wyvern collection, probably made under the Hephthalite Huns, as a reflection of the persistence of these traditions.
About the Speaker:
Dr Noël Adams is the London Administrator of the Furusiyya Art Foundation and formerly served as a Special Assistant in the Department of Prehistory and Europe at the British Museum. A specialist in garnet cloisonné, she has published widely on first-millennium material culture and curated exhibitions at Sutton Hoo, the British Museum, and the Morgan Library & Museum in New York.
Recent scientific analysis has shown that many garnets in Roman and early Medieval jewellery originated in South Asia, confirming classical claims of India as the source of the finest stones. In addition to travelling by sea, these gems also circulated through far-reaching geopolitical networks linking South and Central Asia with Mesopotamia, the Caucasus and the Black Sea. Dr Adams’s lecture explored this exchange of gems, beginning with the gem-set princely jewellery depicted on 2nd–4th-century Buddhist sculpture made in Kushan Gandhara (modern Pakistan and Afghanistan). The lecture concluded by looking at a 5th-century gold and garnet cloisonné collar from central Asia in the Wyvern collection, probably made under the Hephthalite Huns, as a reflection of the persistence of these traditions.
About the Speaker:
Dr Noël Adams is the London Administrator of the Furusiyya Art Foundation and formerly served as a Special Assistant in the Department of Prehistory and Europe at the British Museum. A specialist in garnet cloisonné, she has published widely on first-millennium material culture and curated exhibitions at Sutton Hoo, the British Museum, and the Morgan Library & Museum in New York.