This precious commodity they traded among their neighbors for some of the finest ornaments of the age: bracelets of shimmering sea shells and beads of a beautiful turquoiselike stone known as variscite.    From Wordnik.com.  [Prozac Nation, 4000 B.C.] Reference

They served for the exploitation of variscite, a green mineral, which was used for the production of jewelry (beads for necklaces, etc.    From Wordnik.com.  [We Blog A Lot] Reference