3 x 2 3/4 x 2 3/4″ (7.6 x 7 x 7 cm) I bought this bracelet in Agadez, way up into the desert in Niger. It’s one of the most spectacular objects I’ve ever found. I have never seen anything like it. The asymmetry of it is amazing. Estimated age: 600 years.

Over the course of the last 2000 years some population centers in Africa have grown while others have withered away and eventually have disappeared altogether. It is not uncommon for some of the possessions, be they utilitarian or decorative, to be found by enterprising explorers who then bring those items to market. More often than not these objects have been found buried under accumulated earth hence the heading “Archaeological”.