About 70,000 glass beads from all around the world have been found on an island off Georgia. It's the largest 17th century bead repository ever found at what is believed to be one of the Spanish empire's most remote and wealth outposts.

The beads, made of French and Chinese blue glass, Dutch layered glass and Baltic amber, were discovered as part of a continuing research project at the former Mission Santa Catalina de Gaule on what is now known as St. Catherine's Island off the coast of Georgia. The site, founded in the 16th century, was the capital and administrative center for the province of Guale in Spanish Florida for almost a century, according to a statement from the American Museum of Natural History.

The beads shed light on past trade routes and provide clues about the social hierarchy and wealth of the people.

"This is the northernmost outpost of the Spanish empire, but we see evidence of ancient trade routes from China via Manila's galleons to Mexico and Spain," Lorann Pendleton, Director of the Archaeology Laboratory at the Museum, said in the statement. "We also have found perhaps the first evidence of Spanish beadmaking, along with beads from the main centers of Italy, France, and the Netherlands."

Since 1974, David Hurst Thomas, curator of anthropology at the Museum, and colleagues have been excavating this site. Analysis shows there are more than 130 different types of beads on the island.

The new research from the team of scientists was published in the Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History and was funded in part by the Edward John Noble Foundation.