Dongola between the 6th and the 17th centuries AD experienced several cultural shifts from a post-Meroitic center through a capital city of the Christian kingdom of Makuria to a post- Makurian settlement with encroaching Islam. Beads have always constituted a traditional element of personal adornment in Nubia and their production, use and circulation did not cease despite religious, political and social changes in the medieval period. On the contrary, beads and pendants preserved their ornamental and apotropaic functions and quite probably took on new roles. Moreover, a material analysis of preserved beads reveals the potential of this small medium in tracing interaction among medieval cultures.