An assemblage of 1687 beads and pendants was recovered from the excavation of five tumuli: 16, 23, 46, 52, 179) in the cemetery of Tanqasi in Sudan. The assemblage is dominated by faience beads (n=920). The remaining beads and pendants are made of glass (n=422), stone (n=241), ostrich eggshell (n=102), and metal-in-glass (n=2). Morphological estimation based on material, technique of manufacture and shape provides a preliminary overview of types that are encountered at Tanqasi cemetery. In addition to beads made of locally available materials (ostrich eggshell, quartz and faience), glass beads of Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific provenance were found. In general, the assemblage is dated to the period between the late Meroitic and post-Meroitic. A few bead types: small faience, bichrome glass and gold-in-glass, are late Meroitic in date. One stone bead may be Napatan in origin.