Spectroscopic provenance analysis of Hungarian amber artifacts has shown that nearly all of them are of Baltic amber or succinite, which occurs naturally only in northern Europe. The present paper explores the question whether these beads were made in northern Europe and imported into Hungary as finished products, or were made in Hungary from imported raw material. To this end, 659 extant amber beads of the Bronze Age of Hungary are divided into 17 types by shape and dimensions. The significance of the typology is borne out by striking diachronical patterns: e.g., flattened globular beads (Group III) are virtually limited to the Middle Bronze Age, while truncated biconical beads (Group IX) are essentially exclusive to the Late Bronze Age. By comparing Hungarian bead forms of a given period with those of countries to the north, including Denmark and the Baltic States, the classification offers a means by which imported beads may be distinguished from locally made beads.