Things that Travelled: Mediterranean Glass in the First Millennium AD

Daniela Rosenow, Matt Phelps, Andrew Meek, Ian Freestone

UCL Press, Mar 19, 2018 - Social Science - 362 pages

Recent research has demonstrated that, in the Roman, Late Antique, Early Islamic and Medieval worlds, glass was traded over long distances, from the Eastern Mediterranean, mainly Egypt and Israel, to Northern Africa, the Western Mediterranean and Northern Europe. Things that Travelled, a collaboration between the UCL Early Glass Technology Research Network, the Association for the History of Glass and the British Museum, aims to build on this knowledge. Covering all aspects of glass production, technology, distribution and trade in Roman, Byzantine and Early Medieval/Early Islamic times, including studies from Britain, Egypt, Cyprus, Italy and many others, the volume combines the strengths of the sciences and cultural studies to offer a new approach to research on ancient glass. By bringing together such a varied mix of contributors, specialising in a range of geographical areas and chronological time frames, this volume also offers a valuable contribution to broader discussions on glass within political, economic, cultural and historical arenas.

Contents

• 1 A special group of early Christian glass gems from Greece: 1
• From their origin to Late Antiquity in the Mediterranean: 22
• Interpreting patterns and mechanisms of distribution: 46
• 4 Glass production and consumption in Cyprus in Late Antiquity fourthseventh century CE: 72
• Precious things for special people?: 92
• Glassworking beyond the edge of the empire: 107
• The biography of Roman vessel glass in the Sahara Desert: 134
• 8 HIMT glass composition and commodity branding in the primary glass industry: 159
• An archaeometric perspective: 191
• A Late Antique glass workshop at Pella in Jordan: 215
• An investigation of the plant ash glass: 236
• Roman and Late Antique glass from Armant Upper Egypt: 283
• Recycling and the glass industry in Britain from the first to fifth century CE: 324
• A review of the Roman glass from northern Adriatic Italy: 346
• The Wilshere Collection of goldglass examined: 368
• Index: 384
• Back cover: 393

About the author

Daniela Rosenow gained her PhD in Egyptology from the Humboldt-University Berlin in 2008. Since 2017 she has been employed as an academic research fellow at the German Archaeological Institute Cairo and responsible for excavations at Dahshur. Her research interests include Late Period and Greco-Roman Egypt with a specialisation in ancient glass. Matt Phelps completed a Physical Sciences degree at UCL in 2007. After a placement at the Research Laboratory with English Heritage, he went on to do a Doctorate at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL. His research interests lie in glass production, provenance and technology, particularly during the Roman, Byzantine and Islamic periods. Andrew Meek is a scientist in the Department of Scientific Research at the British Museum. His specialism is the analysis of vitreous materials. He is a board member of the Early Glass Technology Research Network and The Association for the History of Glass, and co-editor of Glass News. Ian Freestone is an archaeological scientist in the Institute of Archaeology, UCL. He joined UCL in 2011 as Professor of Archaeological Materials and Technology and manages the Wolfson materials science laboratories. He has conducted research on artefacts from all over the world, from the Neolithic to the early modern periods.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Things that Travelled: Mediterranean Glass in the First Millennium AD; JSTOR Open Access monographs; OAPEN Library
• Editors: Daniela Rosenow, Matt Phelps, Andrew Meek, Ian Freestone
• Publisher: UCL Press, 2018
• ISBN: 1787351173, 9781787351172
• Length: 362 pages
• Subjects: Art / Museum Studies; Religion / Antiquities & Archaeology; Social Science / Archaeology