This episode is brought to you by Fully Gemstones.

That link, that sort of really powerful knowledge that in the 9th century, that bead managed to make it all the way from Gujarat to deepest darkest, Darbyshire, is just such an interesting idea so I got very obsessed with

thinking about that and thinking who did it belong to for one thing but also how did it happen

why could it do that you know why were those networks open at that point in time we tend to

think that well I think it's quite easy to think that back in the past, going back more than a thousand years, people must have lived quite locally

and not had these big global connections, but I think that B just told me something very

different. Welcome to If Jewels Could Talk. I'm Carol Walton, the voice of jewellery,

an author, broadcaster, and the woman who initiated the role of Jewelry Editor at magazines

like Taffler and British Vogue.

This is a podcast for everyone.

For people who do like jewelry, for people who don't realise they like jewelry, and anyone

intrigued by fascinating facts, new ideas, and forgotten histories.

So please join me as I tell sparkly tales, meeting all sorts of people, delving into four centuries of jewellery culture and investigate what's happening now.

I am so happy to be here to talk to my guest, Dr. Kat Jarman, who's a bio-archologist, specialising in the Viking Age.

We are going to talk about her book, River Kings, and also the power of small objects, in particular, a Cornelian bead,

and how much they can tell us about cultural customs, gift-giving, symbolism, and inform us

about wider trends and cultural phenomena. Kat, thanks so much for joining us.

Well, thank you so much. It's great to be here, and thank you so much for inviting me.

And where are you at the moment, can I ask?

Because you're usually on some dig somewhere, aren't you?

In some faraway place?

Yes, normally in a muddy field or something like that.

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