Cholakova, A., Rehren, Th. A Late Antique manganese decolourised glass composition: interpreting patterns and mechanisms of distribution. In: Rosenow, D., Phelps, M., Meek, A., Freestone, I. (eds). Things that Travelled. Mediterranean Glass in the First Millennium CE. UCL Press: London 2018 (original) (raw)
Related papers
In the Late Roman period, the city of Butrint (SW Albania) was one of the most important seaports of the eastern Mediterranean due to its very favourable position and an extended presence of human settlements (from the 5th century BC to the modern age). The city seems to have particularly flourished after being declared a Roman colony under Augustus in 31 BC, but even after the Roman period, Butrint remained a central node in eastern trade routes. During the archaeological campaign of 2011 directed by David Hernandez (University of Notre Dame e US), aimed at identifying the eastern border of the Butrint Roman Forum, several glass artifacts were recovered and dated to the late antique and early medieval period. In this study 33 fragments of glass (32 transparent, 1 opaque) were analysed from different objects (drinking glasses, bowls, etc) mostly dated from the 5th to the 6th centuries AD. The aims of this work are: i) understanding the raw materials, the manufacturing techniques employed for glass production, and their evolution through the time; ii) correctly classifying items of uncertain date; iii) interpreting the economic development and trade models of the area. Chemical analyses were performed by electron microprobe (EMPA) for major and minor elements and by ICP mass spectroscopy (LA-ICP-MS) for trace elements. The chemical results indicate that the samples were produced with natron as fluxing agent. They can be divided, on the basis of the concentrations of Fe, Ti, and Mn, between the two main compositional groups widespread in the Mediterranean from the 4th century onward: HIMT (23 samples), and Levantine I (10 samples). Among the HIMT samples, both “weak” HIMT (13 samples), and “strong” HIMT (10 samples) were identified. This variety of compositions indicates that in Butrint, between the end of the 4th and the end of the 6th century, the glass materials were probably imported from different suppliers.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2020
In this paper, the chemical analyses of forty-two samples of glassware from the sixth to early seventh century AD Byzantine settlement of Gradina on Jelica, Serbia are reported, completing the previous study of forty windowpane samples from the same site. Apart from a single plant ash glass, all other glasses are natron-based, classified as Foy 2.1 (thirty-four), Foy 3.2 (six), and Roman (two). The ten colourless glasses from the assemblage are decolourised with manganese. Five glasses are intentionally coloured blue with cobalt and copper, one black with iron. Four blue glasses are opacified, one with antimony, one perhaps with tin. Some Jelica glass finds classified as Foy 3.2 are specific for having magnesium levels above those characteristic for série 3.2. Jelica glasses assigned to Foy 2.1 group were further divided into low iron (twenty), high iron (four), and very high iron (six) subgroups. The overall compositional pattern of Jelica samples identified as Foy 2.1 suggest that different sands with different heavy mineral suites and sources of lime were used in their making, as well as different levels of recycling. Our findings indicate that the reasons for the compositional blurring of Foy 3.2 and Foy 2.1 are not limited to technological reasons such as recycling, but also include variations in the sand minerals. The results support the picture of the dominance of Foy 2.1 and Foy 3.2 types of glass in central and eastern Balkans and on the Macedonian-Thracian coast during the sixth century AD. Our findings, together with the apparent absence of Levantine glass from this region reported until now, suggest that different trade routes were supplying these regions with Eastern Mediterranean raw glass from those supplying Adriatic Sea coasts.
Things that travelled: Mediterranean Glass in the First Millennium CE, 2018
The present chapter aims to investigate the circulation of glass in north Adriatic Italy during Late Antiquity. The assemblages considered are composed of vessels and working waste (including chunks) and come from Aquileia (sites: ‘Domus delle Bestie Ferite’ and ‘Domus of Tito Macro’) and Classe (sites: ‘Building 6’ and ‘US 4381’, located in the productive area of the harbour), both Late Antique cities located on the north Adriatic coast and connected with the Levant and North Africa by means of commercial routes. An integrated approach, which involves archaeological characterisation, geochemical study and statistical analysis, has been applied. In both cities glass of Late Antique compositional groups already established in the published literature – HIMT, s é rie 3.2 and Levantine 1 – were identified. The trade of raw glass and the secondary working activities of glass of the HIMT and s é rie 3.2 groups were attested in both locations while Levantine 1 glass, less represented in both cities, was probably worked only in Classe and no evidence of raw glass trade was identified. The chemical and isotopic results allow us to hypothesise, for the two cities, similar trade routes and analogous supply of raw materials and raw glass from the eastern Mediterranean.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2018
In this work, we investigate on the origin of Late Medieval glass from 12 previously and recently excavated archaeological sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina and South Croatia (Dalmatia). The present work aims to contribute to filling the data gap on the glass distribution in the Balkan region, as well as to provide new insights on glass trade and its impact in the region. Up to now, the knowledge of Medieval glass from the western Balkan (Bosnia up to Bobovac) and eastern Adriatic hinterland (Dalmatian hinterland between Zadar and Dubrovnik, and Herzegovina) remained limited. The lack of archaeometrical data caused limited comparisons with similar materials from other regions in which Venetian glass was used. A representative sample set of 129 glass fragments from the second half of the fourteenth century to the beginning of the fifteenth century was analysed by combined particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and particle-induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) measurements. The studied glass vessels are mostly different from the characteristic Venetian shapes, but they are made with Venetian raw glass, demonstrating the Venetian vitrum blanchum was already widespread in the Adriatic in the second half of the fourteenth-beginning of the fifteenth c. An open question remains whether the origin of the glass vessel production was specifically Venetian or local by adopting the Venetian technology and importing the raw materials.
Open Access Journal of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2023
The current project focuses on the chemical analysis of utilitarian glass objects of the post-Byzantine period, from two sites in mainland Messenia, Peloponnese, southern Greece: Androusa and Alagonia. The assemblage consists of 48 glass fragments of vessels, drinking vessels and glass panes. The vast majority of the samples are colourless or naturally coloured, although there are also a few blue, green and amber samples; few samples present decoration, primarily with engraved and enamel patterns. Their exact date is uncertain; they are placed between the 15 th and 19 th c. Based on the chemical and mineralogical analysis (carried out via SEM/EDS, p-XRF and Raman) a complex image emerges, suggesting the use of varied raw materials (Na-or K-rich plant ash, potash, saltpetre as the alkali source; manganese and arsenic as decolourants; tin oxide and calcite as opacifiers). Given that during this period there was a high diversity in the manufacturing technologies used in glass workshops from different areas, it is possible to identify glasses originating from both the eastern regions of the Ottoman Empire (following the Islamic tradition of glass making) and from Europe (e.g., Bohemian glass). Comparing the glasses of these two sites with previously studied assemblages from Messenia provided with valuable new information regarding the production and trade of glass in mainland Greece during the post-Byzantine period. Overall, a complex trading network is suggested, both for low-quality utilitarian objects and for higher quality luxurious glasses, which is even more intriguing given that neither of these sites had a port and, therefore, direct access to the significant marine trading networks of the period.
D. Keller, J. Price and C. Jackson (eds), Neighbours and successors of Rome – Traditions of glass production and use in Europe and the Middle East in the later 1st millennium AD, 2014
The analysis of a large number of glass finds from the archaeological site of Dichin in northern Bulgaria has identified a complex pattern of changing compositional preferences. The dominant glass type is very similar to the Roman blue-green glass, represented by three sub-groups throughout this 5th–6th century assemblage. These results expand the chronological and distributional frameworks of the Roman blue-green glass previously well known mainly from earlier complexes from the northwestern provinces. Furthermore, the Dichin samples provide evidence for compositional development of that type over nearly two centuries, explained either by gradual shift of the composition of the raw materials used in glass making, a change in production centre, or by intense recycling. Interestingly, the medium and dirtier sub-group have similarities to glass groups which in the literature have been linked to HIMT glass (Foster and Jackson 2009). Three more compositional groups are also confirmed at the site – HIMT and HIT glasses, and Levantine I. The two last groups, i.e. HIT and Levantine I, are only present with just a few samples, but form tight sets which allow their possible identification as single batches of glass, potentially suggesting a special meaning of their acquisition. An attempt to study analytical glass groups in relation to particular ranges of vessel types demonstrates certain relationships between vessel morphology and techniques of manufacture, and primary raw glass composition, giving an insight into the different levels of secondary glass working. The well established stratigraphy of the site helps to see the changes in supply during the 5th and 6th centuries connected with general processes in the cultural and economic development. The first period of the settlement is remarkable for the diversity and quality of glass types (Roman blue-green, HIMT, HIT and Levantine I), while the second period is marked by a strong dominance of the dirtier sub-group of the Roman blue-green glass, and generally limited manufacturing skills.
Chemical Papers
The history of the production of glass objects started about 3500 years ago. Glass is a fascinating material with a cultural and technological history: the integrated approach of scientific and traditional archaeological issues contributes to the reconstruction of the production technology of artefacts, as well as their trade and exchange. The findings from excavations in the territory of Ravenna (Italy) are the starting point for the reconstruction of the possible contacts between Italy and Central Europe. In Medieval times, glass vessels of different types, firstly produced in Mediterranean regions, spread to many areas. The present work analyses the possible typological and chemical affinities between a set of samples, dated back to the 13th - 16th centuries, found in the archaeological excavations of the Monastery of Saint Severus (Classe, Ravenna) with the same type of glasses found in different regions of Central Europe. This work reports and discusses data obtained by archaeological and archaeometric studies of three glass vessel types: prunted beakers, so-called kropfflasche and ampoules. The prunted beaker (nuppenbecher, verre a gouttes) - cylindrical vessels decorated with protrusions along the body - was probably made by Italian glassblowers in 13th-15th century; it reached Central Europe and appeared in numerous archaeological site from France to Czech Republic (Han 1975; Newby 1985; Whitehouse 1985; Gyürky 1986; Newby 1991; Foy e Bailly-Maître 2014; Sedláčková et al. 2014). “Kropfflasche” is a particular type of globular bottle, produced in the 13th-14th century. Similar bottles were be found in: Herzegovina (Andjelić 1975; Wenzel 1975), the Duke’s Palace of Budapest (Gyürky 1986), Czech Republic (Sedláčkovà 2006), Bohemia (Hejdová e Nechvátal 1970) and France (Harden 1971). The last type of the analysed glass – the ampoule - became very common from the end of the 13th century in ecclesiastic sites, used for consecrate oil or wine. Archaeological contextualisation of the site and chrono-typological study of glass vessels were associated to chemical analyses, performed to characterise the composition of the glassy matrix (major and minor components as well as trace elements). The results were elaborated according to the archaeometric glass classification and provenancing of raw materials, shedding new light on glass production in late Medieval times and interpreting the relations and the exchanges between geographical areas and related cultures.
Arheologija i prirodne nauke, 2022
The paper gives a synthesis of Roman glass production, compositional types and provenance of Roman soda-lime-silica glass (natron glass) during the Roman and Late Antiquity epochs. It briefly discusses a small production of plant-ash glass, which appears among the Serbian glass finds. The paper describes the production process and components used in glass production and the two-phase production model of Roman glass. It presents the main compositional features of the most typical Roman glasses during the first three centuries CE: Roman blue-green glass, naturally colourless glass, and antimony-decolourised glass. It also describes new glass types that appeared during the 4th century: Roman manganese-decolourised glass, HIMT, Foy série 3.2, Jalame, and Roman Sb+Mn. It then gives characteristics of the most-represented glass-type of the 6th century, the Foy série 2.1 and its subtypes with elevated concentrations of iron. The paper discusses the provenances of the mentioned types and the methods used for their determination: circumstantial evidence, major and minor element concentrations, and isotopic ratios and rare earth patterns. There is also a discussion on the types of glass from Serbia, giving a brief sketch of its evolution in time and contextualising it within finds reported from the wider Mediterranean area. It shows that the distribution of particular glass types in Serbia generally reflects the distribution in the wider area. The important exception to this is Foy 3.2, which seems to be more present in Serbian assemblages, started to appear earlier (3rd century) and lasted longer (6th century) than in the Western Mediterranean.