A Boxful of Beads

Found under lava, ash and stones.

A box of delights? Bright things:

carved and mis-shapen;

holy beetles, skulls,

an adult's molar free of decay.

Some objects kept for adornment?

Some for their power? Our beliefs

imprinted on jumbled artefacts.

It may mean no more

then your grandmother's button box,

or your grandfather's collar studs

and cufflinks in a drawer.

How can we know?
 

Footnote: with thanks to Professor Mary Beard for the inspiration